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Will breathed out a sigh of relief. He loved being back with his friends in Hawkins, but that didn’t mean that school didn’t suck. It was exhausting being ‘Zombie Boy’ again. In California, he’d just been Will.
The way his pencil moved over the page of his sketchbook was something he always found soothing. He could feel the tension leaving him the longer he drew.
He was working on a sketch of their D&D characters. Even though the four of them hadn’t played in a while, it was still a source of inspiration for his art.
Footsteps thundered down the stairs, probably Jonathan. He didn’t bother looking up from his drawing.
“Whatcha drawing?”
Will looked up with a start. It wasn’t Jonathan. It was Mike. His hair was a mess of curls (which was the way Will preferred it), and he had a sort of goofy smile on his face. It was cute.
“Oh uh…” Will stammered. “Nothing. Just a…just sketching, you know.”
“Can I…Can I see it?” Mike looked almost nervous to ask, which was strange. Maybe that’s why Will actually turned his book to show him. “Wow.” Mike’s eyes sparkled. “That’s really good. I swear you get better every time I see your work.”
Will blushed. “It’s just an outline, really…it’s not done yet.”
“Well, it’s still good,” Mike said with a smile. “I’m glad…uh-” Mike bit his lip. “I’m glad you still draw our D&D characters…even though we haven’t really played in a while…”
“Yeah,” Will breathed out. “Yeah, they’re, uh, easy for me to draw, I guess…” He finished shyly.
Mike was still looking at him with that same smile.
“Uh…Did you…did you need something?” Will asked.
“Oh, uh…No–” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, yes, actually, I guess– I…uh…wanted to talk to you about something.”
Will was very confused. “Okay? Uh…what is it? Is something wrong?”
“No! Uh, nothing’s wrong. It’s just–” He cut himself off with a sigh and took a seat next to Will on the couch in the basement.
Will patiently waited for him to collect his thoughts, even if Mike’s behavior was making him nervous.
“El and I broke up,” Mike said. Of course it was about El. It’s always about El. Will tried to swallow down the hurt inside him.
“Oh. I’m sorry. What happened?”
“Nothing really.” Mike shrugged. “We just realized we were better as friends.” This was news to Will. He thought they loved each other. “It’s been a long time coming, I think.” What?
“Did you want me to talk to her?” Will asked.
“What?” Mike looked up in alarm. “No! It was a few weeks ago now.”
“Oh? Why didn’t you say anything?”
“It didn’t really feel important with everything. You know?”
Will nodded even though he really didn’t get it. There was a time when El seemed to be the most important thing to Mike.
“Did you want to talk about it?” Will asked.
“There’s not much to say.” Mike shrugged. “I just uh…wanted you to know.”
“Oh,” Will said. He was sure his confusion was written all over his face. “Do Lucas and Dustin know?” He asked mostly for something to say.
“Not yet. I wanted to tell you first.” Mike admitted. Will wasn’t sure why. Maybe Mike was trying to go the extra mile to fix their relationship? To show Will that he was important to Mike after all? “I’ll tell them soon, though!” Mike added. “We’re not like keeping it a secret or anything. Besides, I’m sure Hopper will want to throw, like, a party or something.”
Will couldn’t help but chuckle. “Yeah, probably.”
“Hey!” Mike teased. “You’re supposed to be on my side.”
“I am.” Will laughed. “But Hopper really did hate you.”
Mike laughed too. “Yeah, he really did. Hopefully he’ll like me more now.”
“Well, at least you don’t have to worry about getting his approval anymore.”
Mike looked nervous again. “You never know…I might uh…I might need it one day. You know, if he and your mom…like get married-”
“My mom?” Will asked in confusion because what did this have to do with his mom?
“Well yeah…I don’t want to get like banned from hanging out with my best friend because of Hopper.”
“That would never happen. My mom loves you.” He was still confused about why this was a worry of Mike’s, but he couldn’t resist his innate need to fix all of Mike’s anxieties.
Mike’s eyes lit up. “She does?”
“Yeah.” Didn’t Mike know that? His mom likes all of his friends. Will almost said that, but Mike looked so happy he didn’t want to ruin it.
“That’s uh…that’s good.” Mike stammered. He looked nervous again.
“Mike. Are you okay?” Will asked finally. “You’re acting weird.”
“Me? Yeah! I’m fine! I’m just uh…tired. You know how it is.”
“Well, get some sleep then.” Will admonished with a laugh.
“I will!” Mike promised. “Will,” Mike said after a moment.
“Yeah?”
Will was studying Mike’s face, trying to find the answers to his weirdness. He didn’t look tired; he looked wired, like he had excess energy he didn’t know what to do with. Maybe he was drinking too much coffee?
“I love you,” Mike said suddenly. “You’re my best friend. You know that, right?”
Will couldn’t help but smile at Mike’s endearing weirdness. It somehow made him even cuter.
“I know. I love you too, Mike.”
Mike looked surprised. “Really?”
“Yes, really.” Will laughed. He wasn’t sure why this made Mike so happy. Wasn’t it obvious that they were best friends? Of course they loved each other? Granted, Will meant it a little differently than Mike, but the point still stands. Mike was really acting strange today. Will found it hopelessly endearing.
“I’m really happy you’re here, Will,” Mike said softly. He put a hand on Will’s shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.
Will smiled. “Me too.” He whispered.
Mike looked like he was about to say something else. He was even leaning in a little closer, so it must’ve been something he was embarrassed to say.
The basement door flew open, and Jonathan came thundering down the stairs. Mike removed his hand from Will’s shoulder.
“What’re you two doing?” Jonathan asked with a suspicious glance.
“Just talking,” Will answered. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes at his brother. Jonathan had been very protective since that disastrous spring break. While Will appreciated it, he didn’t want Mike to wonder why Jonathan suddenly seemed to hate him so much.
“Okay…” Jonathan narrowed his eyes at Mike, who suddenly looked nervous.
“Did you need something, Jonathan?” Will asked.
“Dinner’s ready,” Jonathan answered, finally ending his death stare.
Will sighed. Between keeping Jonathan from killing Mike and dealing with his own unrequited feelings, this was gonna be a long few months.
Will had thought that Mike’s weird behavior might get better after their talk. He thought that Mike had said what he needed to say (which he was nervous about for whatever reason) and that he’d go back to normal. However, his weirdness continued.
It was like he wanted to be around Will constantly. He wasn’t exactly complaining, but it was such a change from the past year that it confused him. Before, he felt like he had to beg Mike for any scrap of affection, and now it was like Mike had no shortage to give him.
Again, he’s not complaining; it’s just weird.
Take today at school, for instance: Mike walked him to his first class even though Mike’s class was on the other side of the building. Mike had insisted, and Will thought it was better not to argue.
He tried not to think too much about it, and by lunchtime he had mostly succeeded.
Until Mike (in typical Mike fashion) gave him something else to think about.
He was the last to sit down at the table. Mike, Dustin, and Lucas were already deep in discussion about something.
“Hi Will,” Mike cut Dustin off as soon as Will sat down.
“Hi,” Will answered.
Mike had a soft smile on his face. “Here. I got you this.” Mike placed a package of Reece’s cups in front of him.
Will looked over at him in surprise. Mike had gotten him his favorite candy. Just randomly? “Thanks, Mike.” Will opened the package, excited to eat it. Mike beamed. You would think this was the best thing he’d ever seen.
Like Will said, weird.
“Uh, the rest of us are here too.” Dustin cut in with an eye roll. “Where’s our candy?”
“I like Will better,” Mike said with a shrug.
Will had to keep his mouth from dropping open.
“What else is new?” Lucas mumbled to Dustin in fond annoyance.
Mike looked back at Will – who was happily munching on his candy – and his eyes instantly softened.
Will didn’t have too much time to dwell on Mike’s strange behavior, because the radio they had at their table started playing ‘Upside Down ’–their code for an incoming crawl message.
“Already?” Dustin asked.
They scrambled to get paper and record Robin’s hidden messages.
There was another crawl tonight. Will hated crawls not only because they made him extremely nervous but also because he wasn’t allowed to actually do anything useful. Everyone else had a job to do, and he was just there – like always.
Once El and Hopper arrived, Nancy was able to run them through the plan for tonight. There were questions – as there always were with this group of people – but Will tuned them out. It wasn’t like he was allowed to help anyway.
Besides, his head had chosen this moment as the perfect time to stage a rebellion. His headache came on suddenly and fiercely. Of course it would be now; that was just his luck. The voices of his friends were dull background noise.
A particularly painful stabbing pain occurred, and Will couldn’t help but stumble. He was quick to right himself.
“Hey.” He heard Mike call softly from beside him. He had a gentle hold on each of Will’s arms – probably in case he fell over.
He looked over at Mike, who was watching him with a face of concern.
“You okay?” He asked.
Will nodded and instantly regretted it when it aggravated his head further. He winced.
“You sure?” Mike asked.
“Just a headache,” Will mumbled in response.
Mike searched his face as if he could see the injury on him. He gulped nervously. “It’s not…him. Is it?”
“No. No, just a headache, Mike. I promise.” Will answered quietly. No one else had noticed their side conversation, and he wanted to keep it that way.
Mike lifted one of his hands to feel Will’s forehead. “You’re not feeling sick, are you?”
“No I’m okay.” Will’s eyes fluttered closed involuntarily – Mike’s hand felt too nice on his head. “It’s probably just stress.” He offered.
Mike removed his hand from his forehead only to place it on his shoulder. “Pre-crawl jitters?” He asked.
Will couldn’t help but chuckle. “Something like that.” He said with a smile.
“It’s gonna be okay,” Mike told him softly. “There’s nothing to worry about.”
Will hummed in agreement.
Mike studied him for a few more seconds before he turned back to face the rest of the group (who were somehow still going over things for tonight). Mike shifted closer to Will so that their arms were touching.
It was so comforting that it almost cured his headache completely.
Mike didn’t pull away until it was time for them to get into position. Even then, he didn’t go far. He turned to face Will with a serious expression.
“Be safe.” He told Will.
“You’re the one that’ll be out there,” Will replied with a fond eye roll. “You be safe.”
Mike was not so easily deterred. “Drink water and take something for your headache.”
Will sighed. “Mike-”
“And if anything changes or you start to feel worse, walkie me-”
“Mike.” He groaned. “I’m fine. Go do your job.”
Mike gave him a fond smile. He opened his mouth to say something else when Lucas’ voice cut in.
“Jesus, Mike. Let’s go! We’re kind of on the clock here, in case you forgot!”
Mike sighed. His fingers flexed like he wanted to reach for something.
“Mike!”
“I’m coming!” Mike yelled back in annoyance. He gave Will a nod – which he returned – and then he headed up the stairs to follow Lucas.
Predictably, the crawl led to absolutely nothing. That was expected. What was unexpected was what Mike did when they got back.
While everyone was eager to hear Hopper’s debrief of his experience in the Upside Down, Mike beelined it straight to Will. Then he pulled him into a hug.
“Oof,” Will said, but he still wrapped his arms around Mike in return. He was a weak, weak man.
Mike pulled back with a smile – Mike had been smiling a lot around Will these days, not that he was complaining; Mike had a beautiful smile.
“How’re you feeling?” Mike asked softly in that voice he seemed to reserve just for Will.
“I’m okay,” Will told him.
Mike had kept one hand on Will’s waist from when he hugged him, and the other was playing with the hair on the back of his neck. It was really messing with Will’s ability to be normal. He raised the hand that was on Will’s neck to brush some hair away from his forehead.
Will’s heartbeat picked up. He was almost worried that everyone could hear it.
Mike seemed oblivious to the turmoil he was causing inside Will.
“You sure? No headache?”
Will shook his head – partly to say no, but also to clear the Mike-induced fog. “No, it went away after I took medicine.”
“Good,” Mike said softly. He studied Will for a few more moments before a particularly loud exclamation from Dustin seemed to remind Mike where they were.
He removed his hands from Will after that and took a small step back. With this action, Will was able to breathe again.
How could Mike be so unaware of the effect he was having on him? At this rate, Mike was going to be the death of him.
The behavior only got stranger from there. The walks to class continued, and so did the touching. It was like Mike was using every excuse he had to touch Will in some way. It was as wonderful as it was maddening.
Mike had always been a tactile person, but he hadn’t been like that with Will in a while.
What had brought this on? Was he lonely after his breakup with El?
That had to be it.
Mike was obviously just missing having someone, and Will was an easy replacement. He was always there and very easily accessible to Mike. He’d probably be the same way if it was Lucas or Dustin living with him.
Will had to remind himself not to get his hopes up that it meant anything. It never did.
Will couldn’t help but sigh as he put one of the records back on the shelf. He had become closer with Robin in the last few weeks. Sometimes she asked him to help her with various tasks around the Squawk. He never minded. It was nice to have something mindless to do. It also got him out of the house, which was often too crowded.
Currently, he was organizing the records they had. There were a few that needed to be put back on the shelf from earlier shows. Also, sometimes Steve just shoved things in random places, so anything that was out of place needed to be reorganized.
He was so absorbed in his task that he didn’t hear the door opening or the footsteps behind him.
A pair of arms wrapped around his waist in a hug and pulled him into a chest. He couldn’t help but jump.
“It’s just me,” Mike said from behind him with a chuckle.
“Mike,” Will breathed out in relief. “You scared me.” For a second, Will had thought he was about to be murdered.
“Sorry,” Mike muttered, but he didn’t sound very sorry. “I thought you heard me.”
“Clearly not.” Will chuckled.
“Clearly.” Mike tightened his hold on Will. “You were very focused,” He mused. He rested his chin on Will’s shoulder.
Will’s breath hitched.
What the hell was Mike doing? This was weird even for them.
Mike sighed, seemingly releasing some tension. “What were you doing?”
“Organizing.” Will offered, and getting even that word out had been difficult. Especially since his head was currently a constant loop of: Mike Mike Mike.
“Uh huh.” Mike nestled closer to Will, sticking his nose in the groove between his neck and shoulder. “Don’t let me distract you.”
“Wh-Huh?” Will was well and truly baffled.
Mike chuckled. He seemed to be enjoying this unique form of torture. “Your organizing.” Mike offered. “Don’t let me stop you.”
Was he serious?
“Mike,” Will huffed. “How am I supposed to organize with you hanging onto me like a barnacle?”
Mike remained unbothered. It was vexing. “You’re smart; you’ll figure it out.”
“So you’re just gonna stay like that?” Will asked. “The whole time?”
Mike shrugged, and Will’s heart fluttered with the knowledge that Mike was close enough for him to feel it.
Will huffed again. “Mike.”
“Will.”
“Mike.” He groaned.
“Willllll.” Mike sung.
“Why are you like this?” Will asked.
“You love it,” Mike answered confidently.
Will spluttered.
Mike laughed and hid his face back in Will’s shoulder.
Will had to accept his fate. Clearly Mike did actually intend to stay fused to him the whole time. Platonically. Somehow Mike saw nothing wrong with this behavior.
Will was starting to wonder what he had done in a past life to deserve this treatment.
A kiss was placed on his neck, and Will’s mind went blank.
A kiss. A kiss. A kiss? Mike had kissed him. Mike had kissed his neck. What was even happening?
Error 404: Will Byers was not found. Cause of death: Mike Wheeler.
His face was burning.
Mike must’ve felt his body tense because he lifted his head from Will’s neck to look at him.
“What’s wrong?” Mike asked in innocent confusion.
What’s wrong? What’s wrong? Was he fucking serious?
“Hello? Earth to Will?” Mike continued.
Will was pretty sure he was no longer on Earth, actually. He was clearly on some other planet where dreams came true. Or maybe he was in a parallel universe? One where Mike actually loved him?
“Is it that bad?” Mike asked suddenly.
“Huh?” Will jumped. “What?”
“The records,” Mike added. “Surely they can’t be that disorganized?”
“Huh?” Will said dumbly. What else was he supposed to say?
Mike looked at him suspiciously. He gently turned Will around to face him.
“How long have you been here?” Mike asked with skepticism.
“What?” Will asked. Mike raised an eyebrow in response. “How long have I been here? Like here, here?”
Mike groaned. “The Squawk, Will. How long have you been here organizing?”
“Oh.” That was a random question, but Will found that he didn’t know the answer. What time was it now? He lifted his hand to look at his watch. It was well past six o’clock. “Um…a while?”
Mike did not need to know that he had been here for like three hours already.
“Alright,” Mike responded. “You need a nap.” He decided.
“A nap?” He questioned. “I’m not a toddler.”
“Could’ve fooled me.” Mike joked.
“Hey!” Will cried.
Mike threw his arm around Will and began to guide him towards the door. “Home we go.”
“But I’m not done with my records…”
“Your records aren’t going anywhere,” Mike answered while continuing to steer Will to the door. “You’re cut off. You clearly have an addiction.”
“I can stop any time I want to.” Will deadpanned.
“Uh-huh. Sure you can.” Mike agreed with a laugh.
They passed by Robin and Steve on their way out, who were looking at them in amusement.
“I’m taking him home,” Mike told them.
“Catch ya later, little Byers!” Robin called happily.
It was a few days later when Jonathan cornered him in the basement. Or maybe cornered wasn’t the right word, seeing as they both currently slept there.
“What’s going on with you and Mike?” Jonathan asked one night while they were settling into their respective beds.
“What? Nothing!” Will defended.
Jonathan raised his eyebrow. “It doesn’t look like nothing.”
“Well, it is.” Will countered.
“Will.” Jonathan sighed.
“What? We’re best friends.”
“You’ve been closer lately.”
“Well, yeah. We live together now.”
“You know that’s not what I meant.” Jonathan groaned. “After Lenora–”
“We’re fine now.” Will cut him off. He did not want to talk about Lenora.
Jonathan’s expression was disbelieving.
“Really.” Will urged. “We talked it out. We’re fine now.”
“Well, that’s good…” Jonathan said.
“Yeah, you sound thrilled.” Will rolled his eyes.
“It is! I’m happy you worked it out! Really!” Jonathan added.
“But?” Will prompted.
“But,” Jonathan continued. “I don’t want to watch you get hurt again. You can’t just take him back like nothing ever happened–”
“I didn’t take him back, Jonathan.” Will rolled his eyes. “That’s not how it works. We’re best friends. We talked, and I forgave him. That’s all there is to it.”
“You sure?” Jonathan asked. “Because it seems like more than that.”
“What exactly are you implying? What do you think is happening?”
“I don’t know, Will. That’s why I’m asking.” Jonathan replied gently. “You know you can talk to me, right? If something’s going on, you can tell me. You don’t have to hide anything from me.”
“I know, Jonathan. But nothing’s going on. Really.”
“Does Mike know that?”
“Yes?”
“He’s been weird with you.”
“Okay?”
“Well, he’s always been weird with you, but he’s been weirder lately. Haven’t you noticed?”
Will’s face got red. “I’ve noticed.” He mumbled.
“And?”
“And nothing. Mike’s just like that.” Will shrugged.
“He’s only like that with you,” Jonathan informed him. “Nancy’s noticed too.”
“Oh, my god. Do you guys talk about us?”
“Maybe?”
Will groaned. “Ugh, Jonathan.”
“I was worried!” His brother defended. “Anyway, Nancy brought it up first–”
“She did?” Will asked. “What did she say?”
“Just that Mike’s been weird. She thought it was about El, but they broke up, so.”
“How’d you know that?”
“Nancy told me. I didn’t realize it was a secret. Did you not know?”
“No, I knew. Mike told me a few days ago. He said it’s not a secret. Apparently they broke up weeks ago.”
“Damn. Do you know why?”
Will shrugged. “Mike just said they were better as friends. I guess it was mutual.”
“That’s what Nance said too. Weird.”
“Right!” Will exclaimed. He was glad he wasn’t the only one who thought so. He studied his brother for a minute. This was Jonathan. He could trust him. “Okay. I have noticed Mike’s weirdness.” Will started.
Jonathan gave him a look that said, ‘go on’.
“He’s just been extra touchy-feely.”
“Touchy-feely?” Jonathan raised an eyebrow.
“Not like that!” Will rushed to correct him. Then he remembered the kiss on the neck at the WSQK. “Well, not exactly–”
“Not exactly? What does that mean? Did you guys have sex?”
“Ew! Jonathan! No!” Will put his hands over his ears in horror. “Why is that the first place your mind goes?!”
“You said touchy-feely!” He defended.
“That could mean a lot of different things!” He put his hands over his eyes as he laughed. Jonathan laughed too.
“Okay, not s–”
Will cut him off with a look.
“Not that.” Jonathan amended. “But something happened?”
Will nodded. “Nothing crazy. He’s just been extra touchy lately, which I chalked up to him being lonely from the breakup. But then the other day, when I was at the Squawk helping Robin, he came up behind me and, like, wrapped his arms around my waist.” Will’s face felt like it was on fire.
“He did what?”
“And then he, like, burrowed into my shoulder.”
“Okay, maybe he –”
“Then he kissed my neck.” Will cut him off. “My neck, Jonathan!”
“Wow, okay.” Jonathan looked stunned. “That’s…”
“Yeah.”
“Are you sure he doesn’t like you?”
“He’s straight, Jonathan.”
“It doesn’t really sound like it.”
Will promptly threw a pillow at him. Jonathan dodged it with a laugh.
“You know this is really nice,” Jonathan said.
“What is?”
“Talking to you about your love life. We’ve never done that before.”
“I don’t have a love life.”
“Sure you don’t.” Jonathan rolled his eyes.
“But yeah,” Will added. “This is nice.”
After his talk with Jonathan, Will felt slightly better. At least he knew this wasn’t all in his head if even Jonathan and Nancy had noticed. Jonathan seemed convinced that Mike liked him, but Will couldn’t let himself hope. He refused to even go down that road. Not again. There had been too many times when he had read into Mike’s actions, searching for some hidden meaning or a sign that his feelings were reciprocated. They never were. He couldn’t give himself that false hope again. He’d only get hurt.
Still, his traitorous heart skipped a beat every time Mike pulled him closer or moved to be next to him. Even though he knew better, his heart clearly didn’t. It – like the foolish, masochistic thing it was – started to hope. That absolutely could not happen.
He needed to put some distance. As much as it hurt him, as much as he didn’t want to, it was necessary.
The next time Mike tried to put his arm around Will while they walked, Will shook him off. It physically hurt his heart to do it, but he had to.
Mike looked at him with a confused frown and tilted his head to the side like a confused puppy. It was unfairly adorable. Will forced himself to look away and keep walking.
Mike had let it go that time, clearly just figuring that Will was in a bad mood. However, the more Will shrugged off his touch or stepped around his embrace, the more confused Mike got. His confusion began to turn into sadness and then frustration.
It finally came to a head when they were preparing for the next crawl.
Will had successfully evaded Mike for three days before Mike decided enough was enough. While everyone else was heading to their unofficial ‘war room’ to go over the plan, Mike grabbed Will’s arm and dragged him away.
“Wha–Mike!” Will protested. “What’re you doing?” He tried to dig his feet into the ground, but Mike was determined.
They must’ve looked ridiculous, Will’s feet sliding on the ground as Mike kept trying to pull him away. It was like an incredibly immature game of tug-of-war.
“Mike,” Will groaned.
“No,” Mike said.
“Let go of me. We need to go-”
“No.” Mike cut him off. His tone left no room for argument, and it wasn’t one that he usually directed at Will. The sound of it shocked him enough to let Mike pull him into a separate room.
Mike must be really mad.
The door closed behind them.
“What?” Will shook Mike’s hand off with a huff.
“What do you mean, what?” Mike asked. “That!” He gestured to Will’s arm. “You just shook me off!”
“So?”
“So? So?!” Mike cried.
Will rolled his eyes. “It’s not a big deal, Mike.”
Mike’s expression was a unique combination of baffled, sad, and frustrated, all in one. “What did I do?” He finally asked in a heartbroken voice.
“What’re you talking about?” Will asked.
“You haven’t let me touch you in three days; you move away when I try to stand next to you, you don’t wanna spend any time with me anymore–”
Will sighed. “It’s only been three days, Mike.” Truthfully, Mike was right, and Will had been doing this on purpose; he just hadn’t expected Mike to notice.
“Exactly! Three days, Will! Whatever I did, I’m sorry. Just tell me what it is so I can fix it.”
“You didn’t do anything, Mike.”
“I must have!” Mike cried. “You’re upset with me.”
“No I’m not.”
“You’re exasperated right now!”
“Because you’re not making any sense, Mike!” Will argued.
“Are you trying to break up with me?” Mike asked suddenly, with the most heartbroken expression he had ever seen on his face.
“Huh?”
“Oh, my God. You are. Aren’t you? I’m so stupid. I thought we were in a good place. I thought you were happy. I thought I was making you happy.”
“Wha–Huh?” Now Will was really confused.
“Please don’t break up with me, Will. I can fix it. Whatever it is, I can fix it. I promise!”
Will finally cut him off. “Mike, what are you talking about?”
Mike stopped his spiral. “What do you mean?”
“I’m not breaking up with you.” Was what came out of Will’s mouth. The idea was ludicrous for many reasons. Firstly, because if Will was lucky enough to have Mike Wheeler, he would never let him go. Secondly, because they weren’t even dating.
“Oh, thank god!” Mike breathed out in relief. He studied Will for a minute. “Wait, but are you mad?”
“What? No? I’m not mad at you, Mike.” Will answered. “I’m…confused.”
“Confused?” Mike asked. “About what?” Mike’s gaze hardened for a minute. “Is there someone else? Did someone hit on you? I swear to god I’ll–”
“I have no idea what’s happening,” Will said.
“Who was it?”
“Oh my god, Mike!” Will groaned. “There’s nobody else, Jesus Christ.”
“Okay, good.” A grin broke out on Mike’s face. “Then I would have to kill them, and I’m not built for jail, Will.”
Will rolled his eyes. “You’re so dramatic.”
“You love it.”
Will blushed because he did, in fact, love it–but that wasn’t the point. “We’re getting off topic.” Will shook his head. “What exactly are you talking about, Mike? How would I even break up with you?”
“What do you mean?” Mike thought for a moment. “Actually, maybe it’s best that I don’t explain it to you.”
Will sighed. “Mike, we aren’t even dating?!”
“What?” Mike froze. “What’re you talking about? Of course we’re dating!”
“How can we be dating if I didn’t know about it?!” Will couldn’t believe this was a real conversation that he was having. With Mike of all people.
“But-” Mike stammered. For once, he seemed at a loss for what to say. “We’ve been together for weeks?”
“Weeks?!”
“Yeah. Remember? I came down to the basement, and you were drawing that amazing drawing of the party, and we talked.”
Will nodded because he did remember that. Clearly, they were having two very different conversations. “You told me that you and El had broken up.”
“Yes,” Mike said. “And then I told you that…” He took a breath. “I told you that I loved you.”
“I thought you meant as friends!”
“You said you loved me too!”
“I do!”
“As friends?” Mike asked shyly.
“As…” Will bit his lip and took a step closer to Mike. “As Mike.”
“Yeah?” Mike asked softly, taking a step closer to Will.
“Yeah,” Will confirmed.
“I love you as Will too,” Mike said with a smile. “Just to confirm, I’m saying I love you non-platonically. Like I love you as my friend too, but in this specific context I am saying that I love you romantically.”
“I got it.” Will laughed.
Mike wrapped his arms around Will’s waist and pulled him closer. “As in, I want to kiss you and date you and possibly–definitely have sex with you at a later date if you are up for that.”
“Mike. I’ve got it.” Will laughed again and wrapped his arms around Mike’s neck. “I love you romantically too, and I would also like to kiss you and go on dates and possibly have sex with you.”
Mike raised his eyebrows. “Just possibly.”
Will rolled his eyes. “Definitely.” He amended. “But more than that, I’d love for you to be my boyfriend. Officially. With us both knowing about it.”
“I think that can be arranged,” Mike answered with a smile.
They leaned in closer, but before their lips could meet, Mike spoke again.
“Just to be clear, I’m about to kiss you romantically, just so there’s no confusion.”
“Mike,” Will groaned.
When their lips finally met, it felt like coming home. Will had the thought that this was always where he was meant to be. He could spend the rest of his life in Mike’s arms–he means that romantically, just so there’s no confusion.