Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Will Byers was not known for being one to go to parties.

But here he was, in the house of some random person that went to his school, surrounded by people he didn’t recognise. It was crowded. People everywhere, music blaring, glow sticks flashing, and lots of alcohol that was definitely obtained illegally.

Will scanned the crowd for faces he recognised - there! There’s a familiar one. Mike.

Mike was beelining straight towards Will through the maze of people, dark brown eyes reflecting the glow sticks attached to people as he passed. Blue, yellow, green.

Once Mike had reached Will’s side by the kitchen counter, he said something inaudible over the deafening music.

“What?” Will strained to hear his own voice.

“I said,” Mike shouted - audible now - “‘Hey, how’s it going?’”

“Oh! Right.” Will replied. “Good! I think. Bit overwhelming.”

“Well, it is your first real party.” Mike added. “Unlike I, who has been to so many parties, that I am an expert at these.”

Will laughed and playfully shoved him. “This is, like, your second ever!”

Mike elbowed him in return. “Still one more than you!”

The two laughed, and when it died down, Mike said; “Hey, come on, let’s go find the others.”

They started to make their way towards the crowd, and Mike grabbed Will’s hand. His breath caught in his throat. Mike must have heard it, because he quickly glanced at Will and said, “To make sure we don’t lose each other. In the crowd.” Mike then dragged Will through the sea of people, weaving between the mass of dancing, singing, stumbling. Even a few people making out.

Will glanced at Mike who was in front of him, noticing he was staring dead set at something across the room. Once they emerged from the makeshift dance floor, Will saw them. Dustin, Lucas, Max, El.

El waved at them excitedly. “Mike! Will!”

They made their way over to the rest of the group. Lucas glanced questioningly at Will and Mike’s still-joined hands. Will quickly dropped it.

Max, unaware of the exchange, grabbed Mike’s arm and dragged him over to the table which had a suspiciously-scented bowl of red punch that most definitely contained alcohol.

“You guys should try this! It’s so good!” Max shouted.

Mike looked reluctant. “Are you sure I-”

“Yes, I’m sure!” Max replied. “Screw only being 17! It’s a party.”

Mike gave in. “Okay. It does look kind of good…”

Will watched him grab a plastic cup, and scoop up some of the vibrant red liquid. He lifted the cup to his lips and tentatively took a sip.

Mike’s eyes widened. “Shit, this is good!”

Will cautiously made his way over to the punch bowl. “I want to try some,”

Mike glanced at him worriedly. “Are you sure? You’ve never had alcohol before.”

“Yeah, I’m sure,”- which he wasn’t, actually -“I want to have the full party experience.”

Well, not the full party experience, which often included drunkenly making out and possibly screwing someone in some random bedroom you’ve never seen before.

“Okay, if you say so,” Mike said, pulling Will away from his thoughts, and handed him one of the cups. Will nervously dunked the cup into the punch, lifted it up and gave it a swirl. It was almost mesmerising. Slightly shakily, he lifted the cup to his lips, and caught the smell of strong alcohol. Still, he took a sip and forced himself to swallow. The bitter tang of alcohol and something very artificially cherry flavoured stung his throat.

“So. What do you think?” Max queried immediately. The others looked at Will expectantly.

“It’s… okay.” Will replied. Which wasn’t a lie. It was okay. Eventually.

“Well, that makes one of you.” Max said, “Because someone has already managed to get drunk off it already.”

Lucas huffed. “Im not that drunk,” though his eyes seemed slightly glazed and his words were almost slurring.

Dustin whirled around to face Lucas. “You are drunk.” he said. “I don’t know how you managed to drink five cups of that! It’s vodka and cherry soda! Cherry isn’t even that good!”

Lucas turned to him with a look of mock offence. “Excuse me, but it is good. Cherry soda isn’t bad.”

Will, Mike, Max and El left them to their friendly bickering.

“I don’t know what it tastes like,” El said. “Max isn’t letting me have any.”

“Because you are pure. You are untainted. No alcohol for you.” Max replied.

El shrugged, as if saying, I’m not arguing.

The four of them slipped into general party chatter. Will kept zoning out, and over the course of the conversation, he had finished his drink. He made his way back over to the table with the beverages and got more punch, this time sculling half of it in one go.

“Hey, woah, calm down,” Max started, noticing what Will just did. “Careful with that, ‘kay?”

Will nodded, this time taking a solid 10 seconds to finish the rest. His head felt foggy and his senses couldn’t work properly all at once.

Over the course of the next half an hour or so, Will had finished another 3 full serves of the punch. He felt sick. The glow sticks surrounding the room left trails in his vision and the music echoed inside his head, rattling his brain uncomfortably. Max, El, Lucas and Dustin had moved away to somewhere else in the room. Mike noticed something wrong, and put his hand on Will’s shoulder, eyebrows furrowed and concern in his deep brown gaze.

“Hey, Will, you okay? You’ve had quite a bit to drink.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m… I’m good”

“You sure? You look a little pale.”

“‘M fine.”

Mikes expression turned into one of deeper worry. It almost looked like he was moving at a low frame rate. A dark fuzz began to creep at the corners of Will’s vision. He closed his eyes and shook his head.

Mike inhaled sharply. “Shit. Shit, well… let’s find somewhere quiet, okay? Would that help?”

Will, eyes still closed, nodded faintly. He felt Mike’s arm stretch around his shoulders supportively. He trusted Mike to guide him to wherever he thought was best, so Will kept his eyes closed as he stumbled along to stop his vision from spinning. He heard a faint “Shit,” whispered from his left. Mike. Will opened his eyes.

“Hey, uh,” Mike started. “You okay with stairs…?”

Will looked up. There was a staircase in front of the two of them. He mumbled a quiet “Mhm,” and thankfully Mike heard. Will couldn’t tell whether his voice was too quiet, or too loud, or even coming out at all.

Will leaned the majority of his weight on Mike as they started a slow descent up the stairs, and he struggled to find his footing. Mike caught him with strong arms when he started to stumble and tip a little too far forwards or backwards. The steps seemed to swirl underneath Will’s feet, his eyes perceiving them to be in a different place than his body thought they were.

After what felt like a mile of trekking up the staircase, they reached the top and saw various closed doors along a hallway.

“Uhh… I have no idea where anything is.” Mike said, glancing around the space. He lead - well, dragged more like - Will to the nearest door. Suspicious noises were coming from behind it.

“You know what? I don’t want to know what’s happening in there.” Mike hastily brought Will to the door of the next room - which was quiet, thank god - and opened it. Storage closet.

”Well.” Mike frowned. “That won’t do us any good.”

Will honestly just wanted to lay down. How hard could it be to find a room with a couch, or a bed? He tried to focus on Mike’s arms holding him comfortingly. One around his shoulders, and gripping his - wait, when did his arm get there on his waist? Will didn’t notice. It was comforting, though. He focused on that feeling and felt his face redden, unsure whether it was from the alcohol, or… You know.

Without realising he had zoned out, Will snapped back to reality (or as best as he could do so) and heard Mike exclaim; “Ah! This must be a guest room. Perfect.”

Will was lead to the bed, and they both sat down. He hung his head and gripped his knees, trying to ignore the churning in his stomach. He felt Mike’s hand still rest comfortingly draped across his shoulders, though the one gripping his waist had left.

Will’s breathing was growing heavy and fast, and he felt sick and hot. The air was so stuffy and thick in the closed off room.

A weird feeling grew in his throat, and he groaned, causing Mike to start rubbing his shoulder in hopes to comfort him. Will felt himself gag, and he knew what that meant. He shakily stood up as fast as he could and stumbled hastily to what he thought was a bathroom connected to the bedroom.

He knew what was about to happen…

Chapter Text

Will barged open the bathroom door, stumbling across the tiled floor towards the toilet. He kneeled in front of it and retched, throwing up the contents of his stomach which included (and was most likely caused by) five cups of that alcoholic punch.

For the next minute he sat there, gagging and retching until he was throwing up nothing but bile which stung his throat. Sometime during that minute he felt that Mike had sat on the floor beside him and was rubbing his back soothingly.

Will groaned, sitting up straighter, and heard Mike whispering to him comfortingly.

“Hey. Hey, you’re okay. You’re okay.”

Will sighed, and stood up shakily. Mike helped him up, holding his weight and still rubbing his back. They silently lead each other back to the bed and they sat down.

Will, he must admit, felt better. The sharp tang of vomit still lingered in his throat and mouth but at least there was no more alcohol swirling around in his stomach.

He could actually access all his senses properly now - the details of the accessories in the room, the rumble of the people and the music from downstairs, the smell of the lavender-and-whatnot insence in the room.

“I’m sorry,” Will murmured, closing his eyes wearily.

“Hey, hey, don’t be sorry,” Mike replied.

“But I am,” Will said. “I’m sorry I’m so bad at parties and I had too much to drink you had to basically carry me here just to watch me vomit everywhere.”

Mike sighed. “It doesn’t matter. I’m just glad I was here when you needed help, instead of leaving you surrounded by strangers.”

Will opened his eyes again. “Yeah. Yeah, I guess.” But he still felt bad.

He felt bad that he did this to the boy he-

Oh.

Oh.

That’s what it was. It seriously took him drunkenly throwing up to realise?

Idiot, Will thought.

He loved Mike.

He had for a long time.

He knew he liked Mike, but it just clicked into place that he was full on head over heels in love.

That’s why he stayed near him the majority of the party. Why he tried the drink right after Mike even though he didn’t want to before, and why he was glad Mike was the one by his side during the chaotic sick-fest.

They sat there in silence for a while. Will tried to focus on his breathing. In, out. In, out. But it caught in his throat when he felt Mike grab his hand.

“Hey…” Mike started. “Are you okay? You still look kinda pale.”

Will shook his head. He still felt sick. Not in a physically-about-to-throw-up kind of way, but his head still felt clunky and slow. And he was tired. By god, he was so tired.

“I need to lay down,” was all he said.

“Oh, yeah - that would help.” Mike said, shifting along the edge of the bed - and unfortunately letting go of Will’s hand - so Will had the room to lay down.

Will reluctantly - and quite slowly - swung his legs onto the bed and rested his head on the pillow. He hoped the sheets had been washed since whatever last person had used the bed.

The two sat there in awkward silence.

Mike cleared his throat. “So… do you want me to leave, or…?”

“No,” Will said. “Stay. Please?”

“Yeah… yeah, sure,” Mike replied. He then shifted along the bed to sit near Will’s head.

More awkward silence.

Out of the corner of Will’s vision he could see Mike fidgeting with his own hands.

Will’s senses were slowly starting to not work properly, so he wasn’t sure if he was imagining it when he suddenly felt his hair being gently combed by Mike’s fingers.

Nope. He was not imagining it.

He was used to the two of them being physically close, but this was the closest they had been in a long time.

It felt… different. Special.

Or maybe Will really was imagining things.

Probably.

He closed his eyes.

Yes, Will had only just come to terms with loving Mike. Didn’t stop him from panicking about it.

Why would Mike like him?

A cool, smart, funny and friendly boy like Mike surely couldn’t fall in love a boy like Will.

Will, who was tired, sick, literally just threw up, and was now… crying?

Oh. Yeah, he was definitely crying right now.

Aaand, Mike noticed.

“Shit. Will, Will, are you okay?!” he said.

Mike gently picked up Will’s shoulders and pulled him into a hug.

“Will! I’m here! I’m here. Okay?” he sounded panicked.

Will continued crying, but wrapped his arms around Mike’s torso to return the hug, burying his face in Mike’s shoulder.

He was shaking now, tears flowing out of his eyes like a waterfall and breath coming in shallow gasps.

How can people even like me? He thought.

I’m a freak. I’m not interesting. Or funny.

His body tensed, and he accidentally found himself tightly gripping the back of Mike’s shirt.

Everyone hates me, I can tell. They pity me.

I’m sad and miserable and weird and nobody likes me, why am I even here why was I even given a life I’m a waste of space I’m just-

“Will. Hey. Hey, you’re okay. You’re okay.” Mike’s concerned voice pulled Will out of his panicked swarm of thoughts. “I’m here, I’m here. You’re okay.”

Will was still crying, and his breathing hadn’t slowed, but he felt comforted. Maybe… Maybe not everyone hates me…

“Mike,” was all he was able to choke out through his tears.

“I’m here,” Mike replied, gently stroking the back of Will’s head. He continued murmuring comfort to Will.

Will’s rapid breathing and speeding heart rate slowly began to even out.

He continued to choke out quiet sobs, but he was no longer in the midst of a panic attack.

Just breathe.

In, out.

In, out.

Mike, realising Will was slightly better, separated the hug and put his hands on Will’s upper arms. Concern showed in his dark brown eyes.

“Are you… Feeling better now?”

Will, face red and covered with tear streaks, hesitated but shakily nodded.

Mike relaxed slightly. “Okay. Okay, uh-” he seemed to be unsure what to say. “Do you, uh, want to go home, or…?”

“I just… want to rest,” was all Will said.

“Okay,” Mike’s gaze focused on Will, making his face turn redder (and not from the crying). “Well… maybe try to get some sleep. I’ll wake you when Steve’s here pick us up.”

Will nodded, but hesitated. The two held awkward eye contact.

After a split second of still-drunk-idiotic-decision making, Will decided to make a leap of courage.

No going back now… God, I hope I don’t regret this.

He laid down, but instead of laying his head on the pillow, he rested it on Mike’s thigh.

Will was on an angle where he couldn’t see Mike’s face, but heard his breath hitch and felt his body freeze.

Shit. Shit, what have I done?

He was about to lift his head, apologise endlessly and maybe leave the country for safe measure, until he felt Mike’s hand gently rest on the side of his waist.

Will let out a shaky sigh of relief.

He closed his eyes and felt his body relax.

He was comforted by Mike’s warmth, and the two sat there in a comfortable silence until Will felt himself on the verge of sleep.

He was just slipping into unconsciousness when he heard Mike start humming a familiar tune.

Should I stay or should I go now?

Should I stay or should I go now…

And then he was out like a light.

Chapter Text

“Wheeler! What the hell happened?”

Mike hesitated.

“Well- He passed out after having too much to drink, and-”

“You guys got drunk?!” Steve replied, standing in the bedroom Mike and Will had crashed in an hour ago. “Jesus christ…” he added under his breath.

Mike was still sitting on the bed, back resting against the headboard, with an unconscious Will laying his head on Mike’s thigh still.

“Okay. Okay, start from the beginning. What. Happened.” Steve was trying to appear like a stern mom, though obviously he was worried because he was pacing back and forth across the room.

“Okay, so, Max found some vodka and cherry soda punch drink, and, I had a cup of it - only one - and then Will tried it too, but he ended up having - a lot more than I thought he would.”

“Do you know how much he had?”

“…Five cups.”

(Steve didn’t need to know Mike was watching Will the entire night.)

“Five. Cups.”

“…And then he threw up.”

(Let’s pretend Mike didn’t have the shit scared out of him, okay?)

“He threw up?!”

“And then he fell asleep.”

(Half on top of Mike. Which he kind of found cute.)

He left out the part about the panic attack. And how adorable Will looked when he was asleep.

“Jesus christ, Wheeler-” Steve closed his eyes and put his hands on his hips in exasperation.

Yeah, Mike was worried about how pissed off Steve was. But mostly he was worried about Will.

Will, who had drunkenly passed out an hour ago, and was still fast asleep. Somehow.

“So,” Steve started, snapping open his eyes and stopped his pacing. “Why is Will asleep on- on your leg?”

Mike hesitated. He hadn’t moved because a) he didn’t want to wake up Will by accident, and b) he adored just how comfortable Will looked right now. So cute.

Mike quickly pulled himself out of his thoughts. Right. Steve asked a question.

“Uh, he kind of just… conked out? And landed there?”

“Yeah. Yeah, okay. Sure.” Steve didn’t sound convinced. “Look, he’ll probably be out for a while. I’ll help carry him out to my car.”

Mike nodded.

“Hey. Will.” Mike tried, in attempts to wake Will up. “Will?”

Nope. Out like a light.

Steve sighed and approached the bed. He slid his hands under Will to pick him up, since he obviously wasn’t waking up any time soon and Mike wasn’t quite strong enough to carry Will himself.

“Hey, be careful-” Mike blurted, but Steve already was being careful.

Steve said nothing, just picked Will up kind of a cross between bridal style and over-the-shoulder (supporting his head, thank goodness) and carefully carried him out the door.

Mike hopped off the bed and scurried to catch up to Steve.

When the three of them reached the bottom of the stairs, they found the party to be slowly dying off. The music was quieter, and only about half the people remained. Those who were there didn’t have as much energy and were most likely tired, drunk, or both.

The rest of Mike and Will’s friends had left already - Dustin didn’t have any alcohol so he was safe to bike home, Lucas had caught a ride home from the basketball team, and Ms Mayfield had picked up both Max and El since El was staying for a sleepover.

Mike hesitated at the bottom of the stairs.

Steve glanced back at Mike. “You coming?”

“Yeah- yeah, just- I’m gonna quickly make a call.” Mike replied. “You can take Will out to the car, I’ll be there in a minute.”

“‘Kay. Don’t die, kid.” Steve turned back round and took Will out the front door.

Mike made his way to the telephone he spotted in the house earlier. Picking it up he dialled a number. He waited, and then-

“Hello?”

“Mrs Byers? It’s me, Mike.”

“Oh! Mike! Is Will with you?”

“Yeah, he is. I was just wondering, is he able to stay at my house the night?”

“Of course he can. Can I speak to him?”

“Uh- Well, he actually fell asleep a while ago… he was really tired. I don’t want to wake him.”

“Oh, fair enough. Well just make sure he’s safe, okay?”

“I will. Thank you, Mrs Byers, have a good night!”

“You too, Mike.”

Mike hung up the phone.

He quickly walked out the door - thanking the host of the party on the way out - and found Steve’s car, hopping in the front seat.

Will was laying in the back - technically that was illegal and he should be sitting up with a seat belt on, but. Y’know. Asleep.

They sat there in the car in silence as they made their way down the road.

“So.” Steve started after a while. “I take it Will’s going back to your house?”

“Yeah,” Mike replied.

“I guess you two are.. closer than I thought.”

“Wh- It’s not like that.”

“Mhm.”

“Really, I’m- I’m not- y’know…”

Mike reluctantly came to terms with liking boys as well as girls a couple years ago. Will, of course, was the reason he found out.

But he would rather die than admit any of that to anyone. Especially the part about being in love with Will.

Steve sighed. “Come on… It’s no big deal. Listen, when Eddie was still… around… I really liked him. In the way you clearly like Will. There’s no shame in admitting it around me.”

Mike was… not expecting that.

Steve? Eddie?

“Oh,” was all he said.

And that was that - they sat there in silence for the rest of the car trip.

Maybe… Maybe Mike isn’t as alone about this as he thought.

But would Will ever love me like I love him?

Probably not.

After finally reaching the Wheeler house, Steve stopped the car in the driveway.

“Do you need help carrying him inside?” he said.

“Yeah,” Mike replied.

They both hopped out of the car and Steve picked up Will the same way he did before, and carried him inside, all the way up the stairs.

Mike didn’t know where Steve was going to put Will. He thought it’d be the couch downstairs, but Steve ended up putting Will down on Mike’s bed.

Huh. Okay. Mike thought. That’ll be annoying to move him if he doesn’t wake up.

Steve went to go leave - but he paused, and leant on the doorframe of Mike’s bedroom.

“I think you should tell him,” Steve said.

“…What?”

“How you feel.”

“I- I don’t…”

Steve sighed, and turned around to leave. “Bye, Mike. Say hi to Nancy for me,” he called as he walked down the stairs.

Mike heard the front door shut, and Steve’s car engine start outside.

Well. Mike thought. This’ll be great to explain to Will when he wakes up.

Would he just be like, ‘hi, yeah, I took you home, you’re in my bed, also I’m in love with you’?

Nope. That would end… not great.

It was about midnight, and the rest of Mike’s family would be asleep by now.

He decided to get changed to go to sleep - having a shower first, getting in to his pyjamas, and having some water. He awkwardly slipped under his bed covers, facing Will. Still. Fast. Asleep.

Tonight must have really hit him hard, to still be out. Mike thought.

He laid there, sleepless. Can’t fall asleep all that easy when your years-long crush is in your bed, his face only a foot away from yours.

He let his mind wander.

How is Will gonna react when he wakes up?

What if he’s sick again?

Should I tell him I love him…?

No. He won’t- he won’t feel the same. He can’t.

He rolled over onto his back and stared at the ceiling.

I’ll just keep quiet. Yeah. That’s for the best.

Once Mike managed to shut up his brain, he enjoyed the silence. Just him and the quiet night air.

After a while, his eyelids drooped and his body relaxed. He was about to fall asleep when he heard a quiet murmur-

“…Mike…?”

Chapter Text

Will sleepily blinked open his eyes. Where was he?

This wasn’t the party, he could tell you that. No music, no bright lights, no sharp smell of alcohol.

If it wasn’t the party… where was he?

He took in his surroundings, and suddenly realised he was on a bed. But it didn’t feel like his bed.

Through dark nighttime lighting, he saw familiar posters on the walls around him, and suddenly he realised where he was.

Groggily, he rolled over on stiff limbs, and saw such a familiar shape so close to him that made his heart skip a beat.

“…Mike…?” he mumbled in disbelief.

Mike seemed to physically freeze, and after a second he shot up into a sitting position, facing Will.

“Uh, hey-” Mike started awkwardly.

“Mike… why am I in your bed…?” Will asked. He wasn’t mad, just… confused.

“Um. Well- Steve drove us here, and- and I thought he’d put you on the couch but- he put you here, in- in my bed, and- and I’m not strong enough to move you, so-” Mike stuttered.

“Mike,” Will interrupted, sitting up. “It’s- it’s fine, really.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Awkward silence.

“I’m just-” Will started. “I’m just glad… I’m here. With you.”

Why did he say that. Was it too much? Too obvious?

Through the dim moonlight filtering through the curtains, he saw Mike smile. “Yeah… same.”

Will quickly changed the subject before it became too awkward. “Does my mom know I’m here?”

“Oh- yeah, yeah I called her before we left the party… she’s glad you’re safe.” Mike replied.

“Okay.”

More awkward silence. There had been way too much of that tonight already.

“Do you have any clothes I can change into…?” Will asked. He was still wearing the clothes from the party and he felt sweaty and gross.

“Oh- yeah, sorry, I- I’ll go grab something for you.” Mike said, hopping off the bed and switching on a lamp so he could see what he was rummaging through in his closet.

He pulled out a white t-shirt and some grey sweatpants. “I… think this’ll fit you.” he said as he passed them to Will.

Will took them, and the two of them made eye contact for a few seconds. Will broke it and hastily stood up from the bed. “I might go shower, too. If that’s okay.”

“That- that’d be a good idea.” Mike replied.

They both stood there for a few seconds, staring at each other, as if neither of them wanted to leave the other.

Will hastily turned and left Mike’s bedroom, making his way down the dark hallway and into the bathroom, locking the door behind him, heart racing.

Holy shit, he was in love. He didn’t know how he didn’t realise earlier.

Dammit. Will thought. Mike probably meant all that as just a friendly gesture. And here I am, reading into it as if there’s a chance he loves me back.

Will sighed, placed the folded clothes down, and turned on the shower.

After he changed out of his party clothes, he stood there under the warm water and let it run over his face calmingly.

I have to set myself straight. He thought.

Mike is just a friend. A friend. He can’t love me back. He’ll think I’m weird and stupid if he knows I love him.

Will tried to calm his breathing so he didn’t spiral for the second time that night. He focused on the warm water trickling down his back and just breathed.

In, out.

In, out.

In, out.

He quickly washed himself to be free from the party filth, turned the water off, and hopped out of the shower. Grabbing one of clean guest-designated towels from the cupboard underneath the sink, he dried himself.

Will then got into the clothes Mike left him - the t-shirt that felt too stretched along his chest and shoulders, and the sweatpants that felt tight when he bent his knees.

He felt himself panicking - why? They were just Mike’s clothes.

But that was the problem. They were Mike’s clothes.

Jesus. I need to calm down before I get back to him.

Will stared at himself in the mirror, and ruffled his hair with the towel because it still looked wet.

Okay. I can’t spend forever in here.

Cautiously, he left the bathroom and made his way back to Mike’s room. Slowly, he opened the door, and saw Mike hunched over on the bed, head in his hands.

“…Hey,” Will said after a few seconds.

Mike visibly jumped, jerking his head up and sitting up straight. “Uh. Hey- I didn’t see you there…” he appeared to blush slightly.

Is it the clothes…? Will thought.

Will made his way over to the bed and sat down on the side opposite Mike, but still faced him.

They stared at each other, neither knowing what to say.

Will could feel his face reddening under Mike’s gaze. He quickly turned his head away.

They sat there for a minute in silence.

“So…” Mike started. “Are you feeling better now?”

“Yeah… yeah, I am.”

“I just wanted to-” Mike paused nervously. “I just wanted to tell you… tonight might have been rough, but… I’m glad I was with you.”

Will turned to face him again. “Me too.”

Mike smiled.

Will smiled back.

“I- I really-” Mike seemed to be unsure of what to say. “I really care about you, y’know? You’re amazing, really. I…” he trailed off.

Will blinked nervously. He what? Enjoyed Will’s company? Liked him? Loved him?

Unlikely.

“You’re really… you’re really important to me.” Mike said quietly.

Will didn’t know how to respond.

He decided to make the jump, and put his hand over Mike’s.

Mike’s face visibly turned a shade of red.

They smiled at each other.

A beat of silence.

Will nervously broke the eye contact and turned his head away. “We- we should probably sleep. We still have school tomorrow.”

Mike’s smile dropped slightly. “Yeah… yeah, we should.”

They pulled their hands apart and laid down. The air suddenly felt too warm and thick to use a blanket.

They were both lying on their sides, facing each other, but still avoiding eye contact.

They stayed like that for a few minutes.

Mike grabbed Will’s hand and held it between them, and Will’s heart skipped a beat. They finally made eye contact.

They both smiled again, and Will decided to make an even bigger jump.

And this time if it goes wrong, I can’t blame it on being drunk, Will thought.

He moved forwards, closing the space between them, and wrapped his arms around Mike’s torso.

Mike inhaled sharply, but rested his chin on top of Will’s head and returned the hug.

So this is really happening now…

It felt like a dream.

Will could feel Mike’s heartbeat against his own chest, and their pulses seemed to sync.

Will buried his face into Mike’s neck and closed his eyes. He was brave for once, and it actually paid off.

He could feel Mike’s hand shift from his back to the back of his head, gently stroking Will’s hair.

This is the most comfortable Will had felt in a long time.

They laid there like that for a while, and Will felt himself drifting off again.

As his mind dipped into a sleepy fog, he felt Mike’s breathing slow into slumber.

Will relaxed, and with one final flicker of energy, he whispered; “I love you, Mike.”

And then he slipped into unconsciousness.

Chapter Text

Will blearily blinked open his eyes. He saw… right. Mike’s room. He was still here.

He was lying on his back, and suddenly he realised a warm weight at his side. Mike had snuggled up to him through the night.

Mike’s arm was around Will’s waist and his head was resting on Will’s upper arm.

Will didn’t know how to react, so he just stayed there trying to puzzle together what happened the night before. Was it real or was it a dream?

Based on how close him and Mike were at that moment, he assumed it really happened.

Will lay there, unmoving, savouring the moment. It was peaceful. Calm. Quiet with warm morning sunlight filtering into the room.

He didn’t know what time it was, but figured it was early enough he didn’t need to get ready for school yet.

Speaking of which… that would set up to be a slight problem.

He had none of his clothes, none of his workbooks. He’d have to go to his house and grab them before going to school.

But before that, he just wanted to lay there. An excuse to be this close to Mike, even if just for a bit.

Will was about to close his eyes again when he heard a loud noise - someone banging on the bedroom door.

“Mike!” Will recognised it as Nancy. “Get up, you’re gonna be late for school!”

Mike stirred, groggily going “Wha…?”, rolling over and glancing at the clock sitting on his nightstand. His eyes widened.

Will propped himself up on his elbows as Mike flung himself off the bed. “Shit, shit, shit-” he yelled as he dug through his closet.

If Mike realised he had snuggled up against Will through the night, he obviously didn’t say anything.

Anyways. Turns out they both slept through Mike’s alarm.

Mike flung some clothes at Will. “We’re not gonna have time to go back to your house, just- just put those on, ‘kay?” he babbled as he then grabbed some clothes out for himself.

Will took the clothes and cautiously stood up from the bed. “Wait, Mike-”

But Mike obviously didn’t hear him, because he was already barging out of the room down to the bathroom, probably.

Will didn’t know what to do. How was he just supposed to just… wear Mike’s clothes to school?

Fuck it. Who cares, he just didn’t want to be late and have people even more likely to wonder what happened.

Will closed the door and hastily got changed in to the clothes. Some tight jeans and an even tighter t-shirt. God, since when was Mike so small?

The jeans were black, and scuffed along the knees, and the shirt was white with black along the neckline and sleeves.

He did a double take in the mirror as he realised - that was Mike’s Hellfire Club shirt.

Yeah, people are really going to talk.

Will grabbed Mike’s navy jacket that was draped over the end of the bed - thank goodness that fit - and put it on while hurrying down the stairs.

As he reached the bottom of the stairs he heard Mike yell, “Oh, Mom, by the way, Will stayed the night.” and a “What?” from Mrs Wheeler.

Mike ran over to Will from the kitchen and shoved a couple Eggos into his hands, with a “Quick, we need to go!” as he ran to shove a couple textbooks into his backpack.

Will wolfed down the Eggos following Mike as he hurried into the garage, opening the door and grabbing his bike.

“The spare bike’s tires are flat,” Mike started. “Hop on the back of mine.”

Mike’s bike had a second seat over the back wheel, and Will hurried over to it and took a seat on the bike, putting his hands on Mike’s shoulders to stop himself from falling off.

“Okay, lets go before we’re late!” Mike said as he started pedalling, and the two of them went down the driveway.

Will held on for dear life as Mike sped along the edge of the road, way faster than a normal speed.

The wind was whipping through their hair and sliced through Will’s clothing as his - Mike’s - jacket billowed out behind him.

After a frighteningly quick trip, they arrive at Hawkins High School - right on time, too, because Will heard the bell ring through the chatter of other students arriving.

They hop off the bike and Mike parks it in one of the bike racks, and they hurry into the school halls and dig through their side-by-side lockers. Will sighs in relief as he realises he left some of his textbooks in his locker, instead of taking them home for homework. But only two of them were for any of today’s classes.

Unfortunately, Will and Mike had different classes for all their classes before lunch today. Will had art, and Mike had literature. And then after that they had different level English classes.

After closing their lockers, Mike grabbed Will’s hand and gently squeezed it. “Seeya,” he said, before letting go and quickly walking down the hall to his literature class.

Will was left speechless and kind of just stood there, before shaking his head to clear his thoughts, and heading in the opposite direction with his sketchbook, pencil case, and art theory textbook. He felt himself being stared at. The damn clothes.

“Why is zombie boy wearing that other weirdo’s clothes?”

“I didn’t know he was in that club.”

“Ew, they’re probably gay.”

“Walk of shame, I guess?”

Will was’t sure if he was imagining the passing comments or if they were real.

After arriving barely on time to his art class, he quietly sat down at one of the squishy desks and prepared for the teacher to drone on and on about painting techniques. At least it could distract him.

Part way through the lesson, Will flicked open his sketchbook and absentmindedly started drawing. After snapping himself back to attention, he realised he was drawing Mike. Smiling warmly, laughing.

Will felt his face redden and he quickly slammed shut the sketchbook. He left his regular art workbook at home yesterday so he wasn’t able to write any notes, and he hoped he could remember it all and write it down after getting home later.

After what felt like a week, the bell rang and signified the end of the lesson.

Will grabbed his stuff, and carried it under his arm as he made his way to the other end of the school for English class, quickly stopping at his locker to swap out his art book for his English book.

Just as Will was closing his locker, Mike approached, and didn’t say anything. He also swapped out his books, but then scrawled out something on a post-it note, shoving it into Will’s chest before quickly walking away with a red face.

Will unfolded the note, and read it.

‘Meet me in the bathroom in 10.

                                   -Mike’

Will was confused. What was so urgent that they needed to secretly meet up in the bathroom during class for? All the possibilities were whirling through his mind and made him anxious.

Trying to dismiss the storm of thoughts, Will hurried to his English class.

The lesson started, but Will was barely paying attention as he nervously counted down the minutes, glancing at the wall-mounted clock every 30 or so seconds.

After an agonisingly long 10 minutes, Will raised his hand to ask the teacher if he could go to the bathroom.

For a solid 90 seconds, the teacher ignored him.

Come on, come on…

At last, the teacher noticed Will, and he was given a hall pass to go to the bathroom. I hope I’m going to the right one, he thought.

He made his way down the hall to the bathroom nearest the English classrooms, and nervously opened the door a crack. He opened it fully to see Mike, head down, pacing back and forth across the tiled floor.

Will stepped inside. “Hey,” he started, closing the door behind him.

Mike stopped his pacing and looked up. “Hey.” he replied.

Will anxiously approached. “So… what did- why are we here…?”

Mike paused, closed his eyes, and inhaled deeply. Snapping his eyes back open with a sharp exhale, he began to speak.

“Well- about, uh, about last night, I just wanted to say…” he trailed off, eyes darting about the room, fiddling with his hands nervously.

Will grabbed both of Mike’s hands in hopes to calm him. Mike was shaking.

“Last night,” Will said, voice surprisingly steady and calming. He had no idea where the conversation was going.

Mike breathed deeply and continued, appearing less panicked. “I just- I just wanted to say…”

They made eye contact nervously.

“I really, really like you,” Mike blurted.

Will’s eyes widened, and time seemed to freeze. Well, his entire body did, at least.

That was… not expected.

Mike quickly dropped Will’s hands, turned around and put his head in his hands. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I don’t know why- I don’t know why I said that, I’m so sorry-” he rambled shakily.

Will put his hand on Mike’s shoulder. “No, no, it’s okay, I-” he turned Mike around to face him, putting one hand under Mike’s chin and tipping his head upwards to look at Will.

“I-” Will moved his hand from under Mike’s chin onto his cheek. “I really like you too,”

Mike’s face somehow turned a deeper shade of red than it was before, and Will watched Mike’s gaze dart from his lips back to his eyes.

Will smiled awkwardly.

Mike suddenly darted forward, closing the gap, pressing his lips against Will’s.

Holy shit, holy shit, fuck this is really happening-

Will dropped his hand from Mike’s face in shock, and after a few seconds, Mike pulled away, expression worried, as if saying, I did something wrong, didn’t I?

Will stood there, frozen. They both did.

Holy.

Shit.

Will mentally checked that he wasn’t dreaming. That this was real.

Yep, it was.

In an instant, he cupped Mike’s face with both hands, and kissed him again.

After they broke apart, Mike was smiling, and Will could feel himself doing the same.

They kissed again, but with more force, as Will pushed Mike against the wall.

God, how long had he wanted this without realising?

Mike’s hands were firmly planted on Will’s hips, and Will was still cupping Mike’s face.

Their lips were moving against each other’s passionately, until Will broke away and he heard Mike whine disappointedly.

Their foreheads were touching, and before Mike could go in for another kiss, Will blurted; “I love you!”

Mike grinned. “I love you too,” he replied.

They kissed passionately, again, but it only lasted a few seconds when from the doorway, they heard an “Oh. My. God.”

They broke apart at lightning speed, putting at least a few feet of distance between them.

Dustin was standing in the entrance to the bathroom, mouth open with shock.

“Holy shit, guys-” he said.

“Dustin! What are you doing here?!” Mike blurted.

“You’d been gone a while, so the teacher sent me to, I don’t know, check that you weren’t dead or something, but-” Dustin trailed off, as if he was still trying to process what he just saw.

Will didn’t know what to do. He glanced back and forth between Dustin and Mike, before storming off, head down in embarrassment.

“Will, wait!” he heard Mike call from behind him.

Will ignored him. He quickly and quietly trudged through the empty hall, sat back down in his classroom and hoped nobody would notice his red face, messy hair, and the tears stinging his eyes.

Stupid, stupid. Did I really think I could get away with this in secret?

Will’s anxiety caused time to move in a blur. Before he knew it, it was lunch time. He put his stuff back in his locker, but instead of going to the cafeteria, he went to the bathroom, locked himself in a stall, and cried.

After maybe ten minutes, he heard the door squeak open.

“…Will?” he heard.

Mike.

Will tried to stay silent, but quiet sobs wracked his body. Mike heard them.

“Will. I know you’re in here…” he murmured. “It’s okay, it’s just me.”

Will reluctantly unlocked the stall door and trudged out, head down and clutching his own upper arms.

Mike immediately enveloped him in a hug, and after a moment, Will returned it, burying his face in Mike’s shoulder.

A minute or two passed, and they broke off the hug, but still clutched each other.

“Will, I know you’re upset, but…” Mike started. “We don’t need to continue this, or go any farther, if you don’t want to, okay?”

Will didn’t reply.

Mike sighed. “Look, we can keep it a secret. Nobody needs to know. Like, the group will know, but they’ll be supportive, okay?”

“See…” Mike continued. “Dustin knows. And he’s fine with it. Him and Lucas have… kind of been expecting it for a bit. And they’re not mad. They’re okay with it. With us.”

“…And the others?” Will asked.

“El- El’s kind of like me, actually…” Mike replied. “When- when we broke up, she told me- she liked girls. As well as boys. And she said Max knows and is supportive.”

Will was surprised.

So.. he wasn’t the only one. The only different person. He wasn’t alone in being weird.

Mike grabbed Will’s hand, and squeezed it encouragingly. “Come on, let’s go to the cafeteria. You need to eat.”

Will nodded, and trailed after Mike out of the bathroom. They were still holding hands.

Let them talk, Will thought. I’m sick of hiding.

There were a few glances and whispers as the two of them entered the cafeteria and sat down, hands still linked.

Will didn’t care.

He was with Mike, and that was what mattered.