Archive of Our Own ^beta

Softer, harder, in between

You know just how to get to me

(S)he is stable, you are deep

I know just how to get what I need.

Will was kneeling on the floor in front of him, the blood and carnage and fire spreading out across the broken military base. The demogorgon had fled, taking the children with them and Mike couldn’t bring himself to even notice.

All he had eyes on was Will.

Will, who had just awakened his powers, his magic, sorcerer powers to save Mike and who was just a few feet in front of him covered in what, if Mike believed in God, he would say was pure holy light.

“Will.” He shouted, and he was running towards him faster than he’d ever run at anything before, stopping to catch himself and fall to the floor and kneel in front of Will, putting a hand on each of his shoulders.

“Mike…” He replied before he swayed slightly on the floor and collapsed forward into Mike’s arms.

Mike caught him, arms tightening around Will’s body and fingers flying to his pulse.

“He’s okay.” He shouted as Joyce ran up beside him and threw herself at the ground with them, picking up Will’s head from where it rested on Mike’s shoulder and pressing kisses all over his face.

Mike’s heart ached slightly; he wanted to do that too, kiss all over Will’s face and drag his fingers through his hair and curl up over him to protect him from everything around them.

He’d known for a long time, almost as far back as he could remember, that Will was special, that what they had was different from other people. That it was private and secret and theirs. And then Will had disappeared, and Mike had started to think that what those people said about him, what they said about Will, might be real.

And he’d been so scared.

Because as intrinsically as twelve year old Mike Wheeler had known that he was the person that cared the most about Will he had also known that being gay was wrong, that he wasn’t normal. That he had to be normal.

And then that had been his driving motivation, a push to be normal that had consumed him, his life, his relationships, Will. The day that El had broken up with him, he thought the world was going to end, that Will was going to know what he felt about him and that everyone would know how different he was.

But after they’d told Will that they’d broken up, he hadn’t pulled away, if anything, they were closer than ever, and Mike had felt overwhelmed with the realness of it all. And then there were the events of the past two days, and the way that Will’s gaze had fallen onto his even more than it usually did, and the way that he’d pushed Mike in the field, and how Mike had been so flustered he didn’t know what to do. There was the feel of Will’s hand, slippery as they’d grasped uselessly at the pipe.

It was all beginning to feel like Mike wasn’t as alone as he thought, and then when he’d seen Will like that, standing there in his full glory, his full self, Mike had realized that it didn’t matter anyways.

He loved Will and that was all there was, love.

“We need to go.” Joyce said suddenly, breaking him out of his thoughts. She was glancing anxiously around the base, eyes skimming over the dead bodies of the soldiers and checking for any signs of life. “We need to check if Lucas and Robin and the kids are okay first of all.”

“Yeah.” Mike looked down at Will for a second before picking him up, bridal style, in his arms, doing his best to keep Will’s head lolling onto his shoulder.

His heart beat rapidly in his chest as they left the base, moving as quickly as possible down the streets.

“We should go back to the station, try and radio everyone there.” Mike said, adjusting his grip on Will.

“We need to regroup, and…” Mike could tell she was resisting the urge to say ‘more importantly’, “Figure out what’s going on with Will.”

They made their way back to the radio station, Mike’s arms aching by the time they were climbing down the steps to the basement. He found that he didn’t care.

“Put him here.” Joyce said, arranging some of the pillows to create a makeshift bed on the sofa.

Mike put Will down carefully, stepping back to take in the pale face and sweaty skin. Joyce was standing beside him, her eyes fixed tearfully on Will’s face.

Mike felt awkward all of a sudden, and he stepped back nervously, muttering something about giving them a moment and grabbing some water before he rushed out of the room, disappearing into the radio station bathroom.

Inside, the mirror was cracked, and Mike stared into it, taking in his wet and disheveled appearance. He took off his jacket and ran his hands under the warm tap before going to open the door again.

When he walked out into the basement, he saw Joyce sitting on Will’s sofa, her head in her hands. He felt his heart clench in his chest at the sight of her.

“It’s going to be okay.” He said softly, trying to sound as comforting as possible. “Will’s strong, so strong. You saw it, you saw what he did… He just needs some time to rest.”

She looked up at him and nodded tearfully, reaching up to wipe her eyes.

“I just want my boy to be okay.”

“I know.”

Will’s eyes fluttered open, the ceiling seemed to swim above him as the memories of last night came rushing back all at once. The tunnels, the bathroom, the sound of gunfire and the sight of Mike’s cowering body through the eyes of the demogorgon, through the eyes of Vecna.

He sat up slowly, realising that he had been lying on the sofa in the WSQK basement, a couple of couch pillows under his head and a scratchy blanket covering his body. He looked around the room, noticing…

Mike. Lying on the floor next to the sofa, his head pillowed on his arm as he curled in Will’s direction.

Will’s face softened as he looked down at the other boy, taking in the slightly damp curl of his hair and the look of sleep-induced contentment on his face.

Seemingly able to sense Will’s eyes on him, Mike stirred awake, as soon as he caught proper sight of Will, he was scrambling up, kneeling on the floor with both his arms on the sofa so Will could see right into his wide, worried eyes.

“Are you okay?” He asked, searching Will for obvious signs of hurt.

“Yeah, I think so…”

“You were amazing.” Mike said, almost reverently, and he leant forward to take both of Will’s hands in his own. “I’ve never seen anything like it, and…you saved me, Will.”

Will felt his heart racing in his chest as he looked down at Mike’s face, which was turned up to his. Their eyes met, both wide with something as they stared at each other trying to find something hidden there.

“I could only do it because it was you.” Will said softly, not taking his eyes off Mike’s face. “As soon as I saw you in danger, I knew that I’d do anything to stop it.”

“Oh.”

Mike continued to stare up at Will, his heart and mind moving at impossible speeds; maybe he wasn’t reading this wrong. Maybe, he felt a spark of hope light in his chest, maybe Will liked him back. Maybe everything he thought meant something: the little touches, the heavy eye contact, the soft jokes. Maybe it was real.

Will blushed, turning away from Mike slightly.

“I’m sorry, is that…”

“No.” Mike interrupted him quickly. “No, no. I just… I care about you so much, and I don’t really know how to tell you, umm, properly.” He broke off, not wanting to look at Will in case he was faced with some obvious rejection from his not quite confession but not being able to resist turning his eyes towards him anyway.

What he saw was a beautiful smile spreading across his face, Mike felt his heart clench as he raised his eyes hopefully to meet Will’s.

“Do you really mean that?” He said, “Because, Mike, you have to really mean that if you’re saying it to me.”

“Yeah, I do.”

Mike pulled his hands away from Will’s abruptly.

“Sorry.” He said at the hurt look on the other's face, he pushed his hands into his eyes to try and fight off the tears and climbed to his feet so he was standing in front of Will. “Will, listen, when me and El broke up, it wasn’t just because we weren’t in love anymore. I had this feeling, and it grew and grew and grew, but it wasn’t for her or for any other girl. It was for you.”

Mike took his shaking hands away from his eyes to look at Will. There was no going back now, not after what he’d said, he could only hope that he’d read the signs right. That Will returned his feelings.

And even if he didn’t, at least he’d told him. Will was far kinder than anyone had a right to be, he was beautiful and amazing and so fundamentally good that he wouldn’t hate Mike for this anyway. He had enough faith in Will’s character to know that.

So he wasn’t sure what to expect when he opened his eyes, but it wasn’t Will also standing up, directly infront of him and with his eyes fixed on Mike’s face, an expression of what only could be hope filling his face.

“Mike…” He said gently, and his voice urged Mike to carry on his speech.

“And I spent so, so, so long trying to pretend that it wasn’t real and that I was just like everyone else, but I’m not, and I couldn’t keep pretending, and I couldn’t stop it, and I don't, I don’t want to anymore, Will. I don’t want normal, and I don’t want pretend. I just want you.”

Mike’s breath came out in rapid pants as he stood in front of Will, face flushed and hands clenched by his sides. Will stared at him with wide eyes for a second before…

He was taking Mike’s face into his hands and kissing him, deeply, on the mouth.

When Will pulled back, Mike was staring at him with wide, blown-out eyes. Large and watery and deep brown, and then he was grabbing Will back, and they were kissing again, messy and hot and deep. Mike’s hands wove their way into Will’s hair and he felt Will’s hands pressing at the back of his neck.

They pulled apart, taking shuddering breaths as they pressed their foreheads together, still wrapped up in each other's hair and eyes.

“Hey.” Said Mike stupidly, a smile breaking over his face as he stared down into Will’s eyes, his own dragging over the other boy’s face and the bright smile that mirrored his own.

Unable to help himself he pressed another kiss to Will’s lips, less heated this time and more filled with what he could only describe as joy, as they both smiled into the kiss, breaking out into laughter as they pulled apart.

“I’ve wanted this for so long.” Will whispered, his breath hot against Mike’s face.

“How long?”

“Forever, probably, at least as long as I’ve known you. I think I knew when we were thirteen, I never… I didn’t see you like I saw everyone else.”

“Yeah? I think I knew before, when you went missing and I felt like I was the only one who cared, and that scared me so much.”

Mike pressed his eyelids together, trying to stop the tears that threatened to escape. In the swirling darkness he felt Will’s fingertips pressing shyly against his face, rubbing his cheekbones and under his eyes.

“It’s okay, it’s okay, Mike. You’re here now, it’s okay.” He pulled Mike’s head into his shoulder, collapsing back into the sofa and pulling Mike with him so the other boy was sitting half on his lap.

They sat there for a minute, Will running his fingers through the soft black curls that he loved so much and Mike taking deep breaths against Will’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry.” He said, voice muffled in the fabric of Will’s shirt. “I’m ruining it.”

“No, no, you're not.” Will said quickly, pressing a kiss into Mike’s hair. “It’s okay to cry, it’s so hard, right? And we don’t really know many people who we can talk to about stuff like this, so it’s like it’s all coming out at once.”

Will thought about Robin for a second and about the girl who he’d seen her kissing in the hospital, Vickie, and that there would be someone for Mike to talk to who’d understand what he went through, maybe even better than Will did. Because the thing that Will had learnt, with Robin and here with Mike in his arms, was that there was always hope, even for people like them. Especially for people like them, the people that needed it most. Hope to find family, and belonging and love.

Will looked down at Mike in his arms, strengthening his hold and jostling him a little so he could see Mike’s face.

“I’m so glad I have you.” He said.

“Me too.”