Chapter Text
“Truth or dare?”
A hesitant pause, and then…
“… Truth”.
Will did not look pleased, as he watched Max on the opposite of the ring they were all assembled around. The party had been watching the two movies Mike and Lucas had rented, but when they were finished, it still felt too early to call it a night. El and Max has proclaimed that they had to play truth or dare, after El had read about it in one of Max’s magazines.
They got what they wanted, and an empty bottle was brought out to spin between them; to help decide who got the question. No one but the two girls were excited about it. After all, they were four boys and two girls, how exciting could it really get?
So far it had been quite tame. Prior, Max had picked dare when the bottle landed on her, and had been ordered to do a handstand for a full minute. Which she had excelled at.
And now the turn came to Will.
Mike looked at the boy, as did the rest of the group. Will looked sort of nervous. It made Mike wonder if Will had anything to hide. Didn’t they all already know everything about each other? He knew they hadn’t hung out as much this summer, because he wanted to spend time with his girlfriend, but still?
Max hummed, poking her chin. She looked contemplative, and then she raised her eyebrows.
Will just looked more uncomfortable, as the redhead pointed at him with a smile.
“Oh, I know. Have you had your first kiss?”
In seconds, Will’s face grew beet red. Mike felt his own breath hitch.
Because…
“… I have”, Will mumbled, staring down at his hands in his lap.
His response had the rest of the group let out various surprised noises. No one had expected Will to say yes, in fact Max had probably asked because she figured the answer would be no. But it hadn’t.
“Wait, what?”, Lucas exclaimed.
Dustin filled in right after.
“With whom?”
Max was the loudest.
“How did you keep this from us?”
Will lifted his gaze for a split second, meeting Mike’s eyes, before he quickly averted it again. He looked as if he wanted to melt into the ground.
The boy cleared his throat.
“My turn?”
Mike’s own heart was pounding in his chest. He wasn’t surprised that Will had said yes, because in all actuality… he already knew. He glanced at El at his side, who too was staring at Will.
Everyone, El included, thought Mike’s first kiss was with her, during that time in the school kitchen in 1983. He hadn’t corrected anyone. He liked the idea of them being each other’s firsts.
But in actuality… she wasn’t.
He stared at Will, as the boy grabbed the bottle, face still red and visibly struggling to ignore the further questions. Mike wondered if his face looked red too.
No, his first kiss hadn’t been with El.
His first kiss had been with Will .
1983, late August…
Mike turned over on his back in his sleeping bag, body still trembling from the bursts of giggles. Next to him, Will wasn’t faring much better, letting out small wheezes every other second.
His mum had told them it was lights out around an hour prior, just so they could start to prepare their bodies and minds for the new school year starting in a week, but since it was Saturday, they had consumed a huge amount of candy. The sugar overdose was making it hard to find the peace to actually sleep.
It was just the two of them this night, Lucas was away on a trip with his family, and Dustin’s mother had thought it was too close to school starting. Privately, even though Mike really liked them both, he was happy to spend time with just Will. It had been a while since they last had. They had spent the night watching rented movies and planning out a campaign for a future D&D session, and Mike was a bit sad to see the evening come to an end.
After a while, the laughter died down, and they both laid in comfortable silence for a while. Now that the outburst was out of him, Mike actually started to feel a bit more relaxed, as if he maybe could fall asleep.
That was what was running through his mind, when Will spoke in a soft voice.
“Mike?”
Mike hummed at the sound, turning over to look at his friend in the dark room. He could make out the outline of Will’s profile, staring up at the ceiling, lips slightly pursed.
“Yeah?”, he responded, voice soft.
Will seemingly thought something over, before he turned to face him. Mike could just make out the furrow on his petite face.
“Are you excited for school?”, Will asked.
Mike blinked, and thought it over. Was he? A little bit, maybe. He wasn’t excited to see Troy and James again, but Mr. Clarke had informed the four of them by the end of grade six that seventh grade would be really exciting. He was looking forward to that.
He shrugged, rustling his sleeping bag.
“Yes, and no, I think”, Mike finally decided on. “I don’t know. You?”
Will nodded slowly.
“Mm, same, I think. I…”, he paused, and then continued. “I’m excited for Mr. Clarke’s classes”.
Somehow, judging by the pause and the expression on Will's face, Mike thought that wasn’t what he had meant to say.
But he didn’t want to push it.
Instead, he changed the subject, brain landing on whatever could erase that look on his best friend’s face.
“Kinda wish it was eighth grade, though”, he said. Will raised an eyebrow, and Mike smiled. “The Snowball!”
Will let out a huff of laughter.
“The Snowball?”, he asked, smiling.
Mike nodded.
“Yes! By then I’ll be really tall, and I will dance with the prettiest girl in school, and everyone will cheer”.
Will let out a snort at that, and Mike’s smile widened at successfully improving his best friend’s mood.
“So, who’s the prettiest girl, then?”, Will asked, an eyebrow raised.
At that, Mike blinked. He hadn’t actually thought of that. He didn’t really look at girls a lot, and didn’t talk about them the way Lucas and Dustin did sometimes. He furrowed his brows. He didn’t really know the names of lots of girls in their grade. He was content with hanging out with Lucas, Dustin, and, well, Will .
But he couldn’t say that, well aware it was a bit weird.
“Jennifer Hayes”, he just mumbled, saying the first name he could come up with.
She was nice, at least. And nice to Will. Probably a safe choice.
Will nodded, seemingly thinking about it. Mike swallowed, his mouth suddenly a bit dry.
“What about you?”, he asked, finding himself nervous about the answer.
He watched as Will shrugged, meeting his eyes once again.
“I don’t know”, Will said. He averted his eyes for a split second, before speaking again. “I don’t think I like anyone”.
The words made something unclench in his stomach.
“I guess I would much rather just hang out with you”.
Mike’s breath hitched, and Will’s eyes widened.
“A-and Dustin and Lucas, of course!”, he quickly added with a wince. “Sorry, that’s a bit weird, right?”
Mike’s throat felt so dry.
“No, it’s fine”, he mumbled at Will’s embarrassed expression, relishing in how his best friend’s face lost some of its nervousness at that. He swallowed. “I think that’d be fun, too”.
He felt nervous suddenly. Then again, this wasn’t weird, was it? He and Will had always been close, peas in the same pod , Mrs. Byers had once affectionately called them. No matter what Troy said, it worked for them. He refused to believe it was anything but a good thing.
At the way Will’s face lit up, Mike’s mouth fell open, and—
“Have you kissed anyone?”
His mouth fell shut immediately, eyes feeling wide as saucers. Will’s expression was mirroring his, but his mouth was agape.
Frozen in sudden terror, he watched as Will blinked.
“Wh-what?”
Mike’s heartbeats picked up, and he turned his face away, eyes staring at the ceiling. His hands felt clammy against the fabric of his pajama shirt.
“I—“, he said. “I just— sorry, I mean—“
“I haven’t”.
Mike’s mouth fell shut, and in a rush he turned back to Will. Will was still turned to him, but his chin was angled downward. In the dim room, his face looked red, and he was biting his lower lip.
Will glanced up at him, meeting his eyes.
“I haven’t kissed anyone”, he repeated.
Mike’s pulse was going haywire.
“Oh”, he let out, even though that wasn’t a surprise. After all, who would he have kissed?
Mike cleared his throat.
“Me neither”, he mumbled.
They stared into each other’s eyes, and Mike wondered if his face looked as flushed as Will’s did. It sure felt like it.
The room felt tense, and he swallowed.
“What if we…”, he started before his mind could catch up, and then immediately cut himself off.
What was he thinking? Was he actually about to ask…
Will stared at him.
“What if we what, Mike?”, he asked, voice slightly shaky.
Mike fell silent for a few seconds. His mind was in shambles. He wanted to kiss Will.
Would that be weird? Would it affirm whatever slurs Troy threw after Will, and him too by association? Mike wasn’t a queer. Will wasn’t either. They were best friends. Mike wasn’t a queer. He wasn’t. He liked girls. And Will was his best friend. It wasn’t weird. It wasn’t—
Will put his hand on Mike’s shoulder, and when Mike snapped out of his thoughts, he found Will suddenly closer.
Will’s big eyes flickered over his face, biting his lip.
“What if we what , Mike?”
Mike let out a breath. He felt confused and scared — and too, too tired.
He opened his mouth.
“What if we kissed?”
As soon as the words were out, he slammed his eyes shut.
It got silent between them, and Mike’s heart was pounding in his chest. He could hear it in his ears. Had he made it weird? Would Will pull away, get up, leave, and never speak to him again? And if so, could Mike blame him? No matter how good friends they were, there were just some lines you weren’t supposed to cross. What if he had ruined everything—
He heard the sheets ruffling, and then a soft pressure against his lips.
It was only for a split second, and Mike opened his eyes. He found himself staring into Will’s wide eyes, just a few millimeters away from his own face. Close enough that their noses were almost touching. Will’s face looked flushed even in the dimness of the room, and Mike knew his was too.
He blinked.
“ Oh ”, he said.
And then his chest suddenly felt full and warm, and he couldn’t help the smile that formed on his face. At the sight of it, Will’s eyebrows rose slightly, and then the smaller boy started smiling too. Mike’s cheeks almost hurt, but he couldn’t help it. He felt dizzy, overwhelmed, warm, and his heart wouldn’t calm down — but he felt good. Everything was good.
A small giggle slipped out of Will’s mouth, and Mike copied it. For a while they just stared at each other, and Mike tried to get his emotions under control. It was just a kiss, he told himself. It wasn’t a big deal.
But still, he couldn’t stop the smile, and when Will’s hand slowly reached under the covers to grab hold of him, he found he couldn’t control what he was feeling either.
Will’s eyes were shining brightly at him.
“Goodnight, Mike”, he whispered eventually.
Mike clenched the small hand in his.
“G’night, Will”, he responded in an equally soft voice.
When he finally fell asleep, it was with Will’s hand in his, and the smile still on his face.
The present…
Mike watched Will’s face return to normal as more and more passed, and thankfully no more dangerous questions were asked. By the time everyone was yawning and packing up, his face looked back to its normal shade.
Mike was unable to look away from him, though. He knew he was probably not doing a good job at hiding it, but he couldn’t help it. He hadn’t thought of that kiss in years .
A week after it took place, school had started and studying and working on the new campaign took all their time. They didn’t do it again, and neither of them talked about it. And then Will was abducted a few months later, and Mike met El. And kissed her. She was the first girl who had actually liked talking to him, and she was a superhero. It was like fate.
He had pushed that kiss so far down, locked the memory inside a box within his mind, refusing to open it up again. The way he had felt when it happened, it had been dangerous. He could impossibly feel that way about a boy .
He didn’t feel that way about boys, and especially not Will. He had a girlfriend. He liked girls. He liked kissing girls. He wasn’t some queer. Mike knew what happened to queers. His dad had talked about it enough during dinner times.
But now the box was unlocked. And he couldn’t stop staring at Will. And Will wouldn’t look at him, hadn’t looked at him since the revelation. Maybe Will found it disgusting, now that they were older? The thought made Mike’s stomach churn, and he finally looked away.
After he had walked the party to the door, kissing El on the cheek and waving at the rest, he closed the door and went to his room. When he laid down in his bed, getting comfortable, he tried to find that box again, to shove the memory back where it belonged.
But, he couldn’t find it.
And the memory of what that innocent kiss had made him feel, that Saturday night back in 1983, wouldn't leave his mind.