Work Text:
Mike has a problem. He's having a very important date with Will tonight, but he has absolutely nothing prepared.
"MOM!" He shouts down the stairs. She's the only other person home, and he's desperate for help.
A few minutes later, his mom appears at the bottom of the stairs. "What's up, Michael?" She asks, annoyed as if he interrupted her cleaning.
"I have a date with Will–" Mike tries to ignore how her eyes light up at that fact. "–and I have nothing prepared and I only have an hour and I don't know what to do!"
His mom starts walking upstairs to him. "Okay, calm down, Mike. I can help you."
Mike sighs a sigh of relief. "Okay," he says. "Thanks."
"So, what kinda date is it?" His mom asks, walking towards his room, presumably to help him pick out an outfit. "Going out? Staying in?"
"We're going to the movies," he tells her, following her inside the room and sitting down on his bed, posture slouched.
His mom opens the closet door and starts flicking through his shirts. Eventually, she pulls out a nice, blue button up. "Does this work?" She asks, holding it out for Mike to see.
"I guess," he supposes. "I don't really know what I'm supposed to wear."
"I don't think Will would really care," Karen tells him.
Mike sighs. "I know, but it's been a year since we started dating and I want this to be really nice."
Karen nods, understanding completely. She sets the shirt on Mike's bed and turns back to the closet. After some more digging, she throws a pair of black jeans at him. "Those will match nicely. They're good for the movies, because they're nice, but they're not too fancy."
"Okay, I think I've got a belt somewhere around here," Mike says, scanning his room. His eyes land on a sparkly rhinestone belt.
Karen starts to walk out of the room, then she stops. "Oh, one more thing," she starts. "Wear one of his hoodies if you have one."
"Mom," Mike groans.
"What? He'll like that," she reasons, then leaves the room and shuts the door behind her.
Mike immediately starts digging through the piles of clothes on his floor, looking for one of Will's hoodies.
'If you have one', his mom said. As if he wouldn't have one of Will's hoodies– he probably has, like, a million.
Once Mike has changed into the outfit that his mom picked out for him, he takes a look in the mirror. He actually thinks he looks good.
The blue button up sticks out a bit underneath Will's hoodie– since Will wears a size smaller than Mike– but it looks purposeful.
Will's going to love it.
Mike heads downstairs and puts on his blue converse. He grabs his car keys off of the hook, but just as he's about to open the front door, his mom stops him again.
"Where do you think you're going?" She questions.
Mike furrows his eyebrows in confusion. "To go pick up Will?"
"Not without flowers you're not!" She scolds, then she hands him a small piece of paper. "This is the address to the florist. I already called, so just go there and tell them that you're picking up an order for me."
Right, flowers, Mike remembers. He was going to get flowers, but forgot, so his mom must have read his mind. "Okay, yeah," he agrees. "Did you already pay or–?"
Karen pats his shoulder. "I already paid, don't worry about it, honey. Just go give your boyfriend the first year anniversary that he deserves."
Mike smiles at the gentleness, then leans down to give his mom a hug. "Thanks, mom," he says, pulling away and turning back to the door. "I'll be back later– or not!"
"Just call if you're staying at the Byers'," she orders, then Mike steps out and shuts the door behind him.
When he arrives at the florist, he's a bit confused. It's just a building hidden away in the corner of downtown. It doesn't even look like a florist. There are no flowers visible anywhere outside.
However, once he goes inside the small shop, he realizes that it's an amazing little place. There are flowerpots on every available surface, and there are many bundles of roses.
Mike steps up to the counter, and at first, it seems like no one is working. Then, he rings the small, golden bell, and a young lady not much older than him steps out from a green door– which leads to what Mike assumes to be the back room.
"Hi, sir, what can I do for you?" She asks, tying the apron behind her back.
"Um, I'm here to pick up an order for Karen Wheeler," Mike answers, hoping that's what he's supposed to say.
The girl nods then goes back into the back. She comes back out holding a large bouquet of red roses. It almost seems like she's struggling to carry them.
"Thanks," Mike says, taking the flowers out of the girl's hands. He realizes that they are quite heavy. He's not too sure why his mom got so many.
"Whoever's getting those must be quite special."
Mike nods. "They are," he tells the girl, then walks back out of the shop.
He puts the giant bouquet into the backseat, then starts driving towards the Byers's house.
Mike has to wait a few minutes for Will to actually come outside, but it's worth it once he sees that smile that he loves so much. Will's bunny teeth are one of Mike's favorite parts about him.
Will's outfit is also really cute. He's wearing a The Cure T-shirt, brown jeans, and a yellow flannel overtop.
"Hi, baby," Mike says as Will gets into the car.
"Is that my hoodie?" Will asks, looking over at Mike's outfit.
Mike looks down as if he hadn't noticed. "Perhaps," he answers.
Will giggles and leans over the armrest to kiss Mike. "Happy first anniversary," he whispers against Mike's lips.
"That makes it sound like we're married," Mike realizes as Will sits back in his seat, buckling the seatbelt.
Will shrugs. "So?" He questions, looking back at Mike with a grin. "That'll be true one day."
That makes Mike smile and lean over to kiss him again. "One day," he repeats. As he sits back in his own seat, he remembers the elephant in the room. "Oh! I– well, my mom, actually– got you flowers," Mike says, pointing towards the backseat.
Will turns to look, and audibly gasps. Then he starts laughing. "What the hell? That's huge."
"My mom just told me to go to the florist and say that I was picking up an order for her!" Mike defends, "I had no idea she was gonna buy, like, half a million roses!"
As Will stares at the flowers, all he can say is, "Wow."
"She really adores you," Mike says, reaching a hand out to push a few strands of hair out of Will's eyes.
"What?" Will asks, finally taking his eyes away from the roses and sitting back down.
"My mom likes you," Mike tells him. "I think she's really glad that we're together."
Will smiles again. "I think she is, too," he agrees.
Finally, they arrive at the movie theater. Mike gets out of the car first, and circles it so that he can open Will's door for him.
Discretely, the two hold hands as they walk up to the ticket window.
"Two tickets for Hairspray," Mike says, taking out his wallet. He sees Will trying to take out his own wallet, so Mike shoves his hand in Will's pocket to stop him.
The attendant at the window types something into the computer, then gives Mike the total cost. Mike pays, and the guy hands him two tickets.
Once inside the theater and away from where anyone could hear, Will asks, "Why didn't you let me pay my share?"
Since they're sitting in the back row, in almost complete darkness, Mike reaches over and puts a hand on Will's thigh. "There was no share for you to pay," he says. "I'm the one who asked to go on a date tonight, so obviously I'm gonna pay."
"It's our anniversary, Mike," Will points out, "We were gonna go on a date anyway."
Mike leans over and kisses him, not even caring about the movie that has started.
Will laughs into the kiss. "Okay, I get it," he says.
"I love you so much," Mike tells him, sitting back in his seat and just admiring his boyfriend.
Will looks over at him, intertwines their hands, and brings them up to his lips to kiss Mike's knuckles. "I love you, too."