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⛊₊˚⊹♡
When Will first came out to him last year, all Mike could do was be immensely proud of his best friend.
He vividly remembered hugging Will tightly and assuring him that he would always be there, no matter what.
And Mike had meant every word.
He genuinely didn’t care that Will was gay; in his eyes, it was perfectly normal.
Sure, Mike’s father wasn’t the most open-minded individual, but Mike certainly wasn’t conservative. He wouldn’t gasp at the sight of two dudes kissing — though he’d never actually seen it, he didn’t think it would bother him.
So, why should he care if Will wanted to kiss boys?
It made no difference to him. Will was still his best friend, who, actually, must have felt incredibly alone, having to keep that part of himself a secret. If anything, Mike was just grateful that Will had finally decided to let him in.
He also took pride in the fact that Will had come out to him first — well, apart from Jonathan and El, but they were Will’s siblings, so they didn’t really count.
Will eventually came out to the rest of the Party, and though he had been a nervous wreck — judging by his shaky voice and trembling hands — he had been able to get through it with Mike’s moral support. But all their friends reacted just as well as Mike had, and now, the Party felt closer than ever.
They were hanging out in Mike’s basement, as usual. Max and El were discussing the ‘hot new boy’ who had just moved to Hawkins, the one El had a massive crush on.
“He sits next to me in History. I might fail the next test because all I’ve been doing is staring at him,” El sighed.
Mike and Lucas rolled their eyes as they tried to focus on their video game. “Do we always have to talk about El’s crush?” Mike asked.
“Why do you care?” Max retorted. “Are you jealous?”
“No,” Mike scoffed, hitting the buttons on his controller harder.
Mike and El had dated throughout middle school and the first half of freshman year, but they were juniors now, and they had grown up quite a bit.
El pouted. “I do not talk about him that much, do I?” she asked Max.
“No, Mike’s just being difficult,” Max reassured her.
“You kinda do,” Dustin chimed in, from his spot next to Will on the couch, where they were looking through an old copy of X-Men together.
El crossed her arms. “Fine, then. Let’s talk about someone else’s crush . . .” she looked around the room before frowning. “Well, I’m not sure who anyone else likes, actually.” Her face lit up with an idea, and she suggested, “Why don’t we all share who we like?”
Lucas shot Mike’s player in the heart, causing Mike to groan. “Sure,” Lucas said now that their game had ended.
Mike sighed but turned his attention to the group as well.
Dustin closed the comic book, despite Will’s protests. “I’ll go first!” Dustin said. “All right, let’s see . . .” he rubbed his hands together, “Well, there is this cutie in my Physics class, I guess she’s my crush.”
“Great!” El said. “What’s her name?”
Dustin hesitated. “You know what? I’m not actually sure,” he chuckled, “I’ll ask her on Monday, though.”
El rolled her eyes. “That’s not a real crush, then. Who’s next? Max?”
Max blushed, cleared her throat, and looked away. “I don’t have one.”
Lucas nodded slowly. “Yeah, um, me neither.”
Max and Lucas had broken up over the summer — over another dumb fight, really — and they had yet to get back together, and it was almost Halloween.
Mike rolled his eyes, wishing his two friends would just make up already instead of dancing around each other. Then he announced, “I have a crush on . . . nobody."
“I thought you liked that one girl — what was her name — Stacy?” Dustin said.
Mike shrugged. “No, she’s pretty, but, turns out, we don’t really have anything in common.”
El sighed heavily. “This is no fun, no one has a crush!”
“Will, do you . . . like anyone?” Max asked hesitantly, directing the group’s attention to Will.
Mike instantly felt strange, thinking about Will having a crush on one of the dumb jocks at their school. He hoped Will did not have a crush.
Will shook his head and said, “Nope.”
Mike held back a sigh of relief. So what if he was a little protective of Will? Mike only wanted the best for him.
“Have you ever liked anyone?” Lucas asked Will.
“He’s definitely liked someone before,” Dustin interjected. “How else would he have known he was gay?” He paused, seemingly contemplating whether or not that was offensive. “I mean, right, Will? You liked a boy and realized you were into guys?”
Will’s face was bright red. “Um, I guess,” he shrugged.
“Who did you like?” Mike asked before he could stop himself. He wasn't sure why he was so curious.
“Um . . .” Will locked eyes with Mike briefly before averting his gaze. He turned to the rest of the group, nervously staring at their expectant faces.
“Will, you can tell us. None of us are going to judge you,” Max said.
“Yeah,” Lucas agreed. “I mean, you know who all of us have liked.”
“And you’ve never even told us about your childhood crushes,” Dustin pointed out. “You know, how mine was Max, Lucas’s was Max too, Eleven liked Mike, Mike liked Eleven . . .”
“Oh,” Will said, the worried look disappearing from his face. “Do you guys want to know, like, my first crush, ever?”
“Yes,” El said keenly, then, more thoughtfully, added, “only if you want to tell us.”
“Okay,” Will nodded, “but, the thing is . . . my first crush was someone in the Party, too. . . .”
Max’s and El’s eyes gleamed with curiosity as Lucas’s and Dustin’s eyebrows raised in surprise, and Mike’s mouth fell open in shock.
And, really, Mike shouldn’t have been shocked. Will only ever talked to the Party when he was younger. Who else would he have liked? It made sense that he had developed a crush on one of them back then.
“Okay — who was it?” Max asked impatiently, her voice filled with amusement.
Will’s eyes bounced between Lucas, Dustin, and Mike. “Look, guys, it was a long time ago, in elementary school, and it was a very small crush that didn’t last very long. . . .
It was Lucas.”
Mike could barely hear his friends and their "holy shit"s and "no way"s over the sound of blood rushing to his head.
Will’s first crush was Lucas? Of all people? Really? That made no sense. Will and Lucas were friends, but Lucas wasn’t —
He wasn’t —
Well, he wasn’t Mike, okay?
It’s not that Mike wanted Will to have had a crush on him . . . but Mike had been Will’s first friend in elementary school. Mike introduced Lucas to Will. They probably wouldn’t have even become friends if it wasn’t for him!
“Why did you like Lucas?” El asked, giggling and snapping Mike out of his thoughts.
Will had a sheepish grin on his face. “I don’t know, I just remember thinking I wanted to hold his hand after he asked me what my favorite dinosaur was.”
Lucas laughed — rather obnoxiously, Mike thought. “Will, you are that easy?” he said jokingly.
“No! Just — stop talking,” Will stammered, his face turning even redder as the group broke out in laughter around him.
Except for Mike, who was about done with this conversation. He no longer wanted to hear anything about Will’s crush on Lucas. No matter how long ago it was.
But Dustin continued, “Wow, I cannot even picture Lucas and Will . . .”
“Don’t try to picture it!” Will screeched. “What is wrong with you?”
“I can picture it.” Max remarked, and that annoyed Mike even more.
“Stop,” Will pleaded. “I was six, so it doesn’t really count. I got over it quickly when . . . never mind. I don’t remember exactly why I stopped liking him, but I did. And I never have since then.”
“Hey, don’t worry,” Lucas said, offering Will a reassuring smile, “I don’t mind being your first crush. It’s kind of cute.”
Will beamed, looking happy and relieved at Lucas' reaction, and Mike wanted to throw up.
On top of his nausea, he felt his skin itching with bitterness. It was the same feeling Mike would get when someone else tried partnering up with Will in class, or when one of their friends tried taking his spot next to Will during movie nights.
He was only getting so upset, of course, because Will was his best friend, and Mike wanted Will to like him best. Like Mike did.
Was that too much to ask?
⛊₊˚⊹♡
Days later, while everybody else had probably forgotten, Mike was still stuck on the fact that Will once had a crush on Lucas.
It was just that Mike had always been way closer to Will than Lucas ever had been, especially when they were in elementary school. He remembered holding Will’s hand sometimes, sharing sleeping bags, and keeping secrets that Will would specifically instruct him not to tell Lucas or Dustin.
So why the hell would Will like Lucas and not Mike?
Was Mike not Will’s type? —
Did Will have a type? —
Was it Lucas?
Those were questions swirling around in Mike’s head as he sat and watched Lucas flirt with Will during lunch:
“Can I have your grapes?” Lucas asked.
Will replied, “No, I’m eating them.”
“I’ll trade you my apple,” Lucas said hopefully.
“No.”
All right, maybe Lucas wasn’t actually flirting with Will.
And Lucas was actually in love with Max.
But that didn’t stop Mike from over-analyzing every interaction between Lucas and Will now.
Even with Will sitting in his usual spot next to Mike, and Dustin being the one sitting next to Lucas, he still felt like Will wasn’t close enough — and Lucas was pulling him away.
“Guys, I don’t know what I’m going to do this time. I think Max and I are over for good,” Lucas sighed, biting into his apple.
“Just apologize to her,” Will said. “She misses you; you just need to say sorry.”
“But why should I have to apologize every time?” Lucas argued. “We broke up because she thinks I’m only worried about basketball now, but she doesn’t understand why it’s important to me.”
“Then why do you want to get back together if you guys disagree so much?” Will questioned.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Lucas said sarcastically, “maybe because . . . I love her.”
“Will’s right, then. Just apologize, dude,” Dustin said.
“But if I apologize, she’ll get mad at me again when I hang out with the basketball team,” Lucas countered.
“Then be a good boyfriend and make more time for Max,” Will said plainly.
“What?” Lucas squawked. “I already am a good boyfriend.”
“If that were the case, then I’m pretty sure you and Max would still be together . . .” Dustin muttered.
“Whatever,” Lucas huffed. “Since when is Will the Boyfriend Expert anyway? He has never even been a boyfriend.”
“I would still be a better boyfriend than you,” Will said.
Lucas protested immediately, “No, you wouldn’t!”
“I would be a great boyfriend,” Will insisted.
“Prove it,” Lucas said challengingly.
“How should I do that?” Will smirked, “Do you want me to be your boyfriend?”
Lucas’s face turned a deep shade of red, and Mike’s eyes widened, his jaw clenching.
That’s it. Will was definitely flirting with Lucas now, and Mike was sick of it. He needed lunch to be over so he didn’t have to see Lucas’s face for the rest of the day.
Dustin laughed. “Oh, man, that was smooth.”
Lucas scoffed. “That was not smooth — I am smooth.”
“No, dude, pretty sure Will’s got more game than you — ”
Mike stood up abruptly, causing all three pairs of eyes to fall on him. “I forgot something in my locker, um, I’m going to go get it,” he offered as a poor explanation.
He left the cafeteria in a hurry and went to his locker. His fingers scrambled to unlock it when he heard a voice saying “Hey,” and suddenly, Will was right behind him.
Mike turned around, meeting Will’s eyes. “Hey . . . what are you doing?”
“I just wanted to make sure everything was okay,” Will said. “You were pretty quiet at lunch, and I don’t know, seemed kind of off.”
“Oh,” Mike said, opening his locker and grabbing a random book. “No, I’m okay. Thanks, though.”
“Well, we can go back together,” Will offered, smiling warmly.
“Actually,” Mike said, “I, uh, think I’m gonna go to class early.”
Will frowned. “But you barely ate your food.”
“I’m not really hungry,” Mike shrugged.
“Are you sure everything’s okay?”
“Yes,” Mike said. But a very childish part of him wanted to scream, “Why do you even care? Shouldn’t you go flirt with Lucas some more?”
“Okay . . .” Will said. “Well, I wanted to ask you if you knew what you were going to be for Halloween? Lucas and Dustin just told me that they’re all dressing up as characters from Grease: El and Dustin are going as Sandy and Danny, and Max and Lucas are going as Rizzo and Kenickie.”
“Oh,” Mike said. “I don’t know then. . . . What if we did our own thing?”
“Sure,” Will shrugged. “I will probably just end up being a random greaser then, I don’t have any other ideas — ”
“No,” Mike interjected. “I meant — what if you and I dress up as something else, like, together? Just us two.”
“Oh, um — sure,” Will nodded, his lips curving up. “That would be — fun.”
Mike grinned. “Cool. You can come over, and we can plan our costumes. Halloween isn’t for another two weeks, but the sooner we get them, the better, right?”
“Yeah, okay,” Will said, and Mike swore there was a faint flush to Will’s cheeks that hadn’t been there before.
⛊₊˚⊹♡
Two days later, Mike and Will were in Mike’s room, sitting on his bed and trying to figure out their costumes.
“Here,” Will said, handing Mike his sketchbook.
Covering the white pages were drawings of Mike and Will wearing various costumes.
“Wow, Will,” Mike let out a soft gasp, surprised Will took the time to draw everything out. “These are so cool.”
Will blushed. “I just thought we could use some references, you know?”
“Yes! Whoa,” Mike said, still analyzing the sketches. “This one’s my favorite.” He pointed to the one at the center of the page. It was a drawing of Mike as Slash and Will as Axl Rose from the band Guns N’ Roses.
“Mine too,” Will grinned.
“Then let’s do it!” Mike said. “I bet Eddie has half of this stuff in his closet; I can ask him to borrow some clothes. I might just need to buy a hat, though.”
“Lucas said the rest of the Party are going to the mall this weekend to buy stuff for their costumes, so we could go with them,” Will suggested.
“Right. Lucas . . .” Mike mumbled, handing back the sketchbook, “Um, yeah, totally. We’ll go . . .”
“Okay . . .” Will said, his lips twisting in confusion. “Is something wrong?”
“No,” Mike said. “Well, not really. But, um . . . did you really have a crush on Lucas?”
Will looked at him, surprise evident in his expression. “I — I guess? I mean, I don’t think it really counts. I was six. . . . Why?”
“No reason,” Mike replied nonchalantly, averting his gaze. “I just didn't expect him to be your first crush.”
“Oh,” Will paused, curiosity taking over his features, “Who — who did you expect it to be?”
“I don’t know . . .” Mike shrugged, hesitating briefly before revealing, “Me? Sort of . . .”
Will’s eyes widened. “You?”
“Yes?” Mike admitted sheepishly. “I just — I’ve always thought we were a lot closer than you and Lucas.”
Will looked shocked and confused all at once. “We were,” he agreed carefully, “But, I don’t really think closeness has anything to do with who you like.”
Mike furrowed his brows. “Sure it does. I liked El because of all the time we spent together, and you spent way more time with me than with Lucas.”
Will shook his head, amusement replacing the surprise on his face. “Mike, are you seriously upset that you weren’t my gay awakening?”
Mike’s face grew warm, realizing how ridiculous he sounded, and he smiled sheepishly. “I don’t know, I feel like I kind of deserved to be,” he joked, but he meant it a little. Just a little.
Will laughed. “You are so weird.”
Mike nudged Will’s shoulder. “Whatever, it’s fine because you definitely like me more than Lucas now, right?”
Will’s cheeks tinged with a light shade of pink. “Um, I don’t know. I can’t pick.”
“Oh, come on!” Mike exclaimed in protest, playfully grabbing Will by the shoulders and shaking him.
“Stop!” Will said, erupting into laughter, and trying to get out of Mike’s grip.
“You’re lying,” Mike said accusingly, keeping his grip tight on Will’s shoulders.
“Maybe . . .” Will smiled smugly, and wow, his lips looked so pink and soft —
Wait.
Why was Mike looking at Will’s lips?
He let go of Will’s shoulders abruptly, and the air around them felt tight. “Um . . . do you want to go downstairs and play the new game I got?” Mike asked, getting up from the bed.
“Sure,” Will shrugged, and followed him to the basement.
As they played, Mike couldn’t help but remain a little distracted.
What was that?
Why did he react like that to Will’s smile? Don't get him wrong, he had always thought that Will had a nice smile, but it was like Mike had been under a trance or something; he couldn't stop staring.
It was like nothing made sense anymore. He was losing it.
⛊₊˚⊹♡
Next weekend, when they were supposed to go to the mall, Mike had offered to give Dustin a ride. So now Dustin was sitting in the passenger seat of Mike’s car as Mike drove them to the mall.
“Hey, don't you think it’s weird that Will liked Lucas?” Mike asked, because he was persistent. And he needed to talk to someone who wouldn’t judge him harshly.
“Mike,” Dustin sighed, “just because they’re both boys — ”
“No,” Mike said hastily, “that’s not what I meant, like, at all.”
“Oh. Then why would it be weird?” Dustin asked.
“Well, Lucas and Will were never even that close. I mean, they would only hang out together because of me.”
Dustin nodded thoughtfully. “So it bothers you that Will had a crush on Lucas?”
“It doesn’t bother me,” Mike mumbled. “Well, not that much . . .”
“It was in elementary school, Mike,” Dustin said — and okay so, so much for not being judged.
“I know,” Mike narrowed his eyes. “But did you see them flirting at lunch this week? Like, what was that about?”
“Flirting?” Dustin cackled. “I don’t know about that. But I do know that you’re jealous.”
“What? No, I’m not,” Mike denied. “It’s just a little annoying . . .”
“Because you’re jealous.” Dustin said definitively. “But who are you jealous of, is the question? Are you jealous of Lucas, and his athletic skills and muscles?”
“No!” Mike said. He was perfectly fine with not having muscles. “Definitely not.”
“Or are you jealous because of Will? What if he was into Lucas’s muscles?”
“He’s not,” Mike snapped.
“Oooh,” Dustin chortled. “So. it’s Will. Got it.”
“I’m not jealous!” Mike swore. “It’s just — Will is — no one deserves him, okay? And I know he likes boys, but the boys at our school — they’re no good. I’m just looking out for him.”
“No one deserves him,” Dustin nodded slowly, “except you.”
“That’s . . . not what I meant,” Mike protested.
“Okay, look, Mike, however you feel about Will or whatever, you shouldn’t be hung up over this Lucas thing. I mean, Will told us he had absolutely no feelings for him anymore. Just forget about it, okay?”
“Yeah,” Mike sighed, focusing his complete attention back to the road. “You’re right. I should forget about it.”
⛊₊˚⊹♡
Once they arrived at the mall, Lucas, Will, El, and Max were all already there. And the six of them scurried into the seasonal costume store the mall opened every year.
Mike dragged Will to the hats, while the rest of their friends went to look at poodle skirts and fitted white t-shirts.
“Do you see anything like Slash’s?” Mike asked.
Will surveyed the racks of headwear. “There!” he pointed at a black top hat before reaching up and grabbing it. He placed it onto Mike’s head, chuckling lightly. “It’s perfect.”
Mike looked in the store mirror and let out a laugh. “I look ridiculous.”
“No, you look like a rockstar,” Will said, and then he left Mike by the hats, running off to the shelf of accessories. “We need these. We won’t be Slash and Axl without them,” he held up two large sunglasses.
Will placed the larger pair on Mike’s face, his fingers grazing Mike’s ears. Under the blue tint of the glasses, he beamed brightly at Mike, the grin on his face intoxicating.
Without a thought, Mike stepped closer, wrapping a hand around Will’s wrist.
Will froze, his smile faltering as he watched Mike curiously.
Mike swallowed as his brain raced to think of what to do next. His eyes fell to the other, slightly smaller, pair of glasses in Will’s hand, and he didn’t hesitate before grabbing them.
He tried placing them on Will’s head but accidentally poked him in the eye. “Oh, shit, I’m sorry,” Mike rushed out, feeling his hands start to get clammy.
But Will only laughed and rubbed at his eye. “It’s fine. It didn’t hurt,” he then finished sliding the glasses onto his own face. “Do they look alright?” he asked, shyly, his face pink.
Mike wanted to kiss him.
Wait.
What?
Why would he want to kiss Will? That was a little — kind of — gay —
Oh.
Oh.
It was like Mike had forgotten how to speak until he managed a weak, “Yeah.”
“Okay,” Will said simply, as if he hadn’t just altered Mike’s whole existence. “Anything else we might need? Mike?”
“Um, I think we’re good,” Mike said, and all he could do was stare, stupidly and pale-faced, as Will walked to check out.
⛊₊˚⊹♡
So maybe Dustin was right. Mike had been jealous.
And it was because Mike liked Will.
Like really liked him.
Liked him so much, it was all he could think about.
The entire week at school, he struggled focusing in class, his mind involuntarily wandering to thoughts of Will.
How could Mike have been so blind to his own feelings? He had probably liked Will since . . . well, a very long time was Mike’s best guess.
Did Dustin know Mike liked Will? How had it been so easy for him to figure it out?
Shit — what if Will had figured it out, too?
Mike couldn’t stop Dustin’s voice from echoing in his head, No one deserves him . . . except you.
Did Mike deserve Will?
Maybe he wasn’t exactly Prince Charming, and he had almost poked Will’s eye out. And it took him nearly twelve years of friendship for him to realize his true feelings.
But still, he knew Will better than anyone. He knew his favorite movies, comics, snacks, games, he knew everything.
And so, Mike couldn’t imagine anyone else being a better fit for Will, really.
He just needed to know if Will felt the same. Mike wanted to ask him, if only he could find the perfect time. However, crowded school hallways and cold classrooms didn’t exactly scream ‘romance’.
But it was Halloween weekend finally, and Mike was at the Byers’, getting ready for the Halloween party all his friends were going to.
He had brought over the clothes he borrowed from Eddie, and now he was dressed in black jeans, a leather jacket and a band tee. Will was sporting similar attire, except he had on Axl Rose’s signature red bandana wrapped around his head, where Mike had Slash’s famous top hat.
Will suggested they do eye makeup, as the rockstars sometimes wore. So, they were in the bathroom, using any of El’s makeup they could find.
“Here,” Will said, leaning back against the sink, holding out a black eye pencil for Mike.
Mike grabbed it, but not before giving a warning, “I don’t know how good I’ll be at this. Maybe we should’ve asked Max or El.”
Will shrugged. “It’s fine. I don’t care if it looks bad. . . . But if it’s really terrible, I can just wipe it off.”
“Okay,” Mike chuckled, taking the cap off the pencil.
He leaned closer, his heart rate picking up speed as he looked directly at Will’s moon-shaped eyes. Mike sometimes thought they looked brown, but right now, they were a warm green.
As he brought his left hand up to grasp Will’s face, Will gasped softly at the feeling. “Your hands are kind of cold,” Will murmured, a short chuckle escaping him.
“Oh, um, sorry,” Mike mumbled, but he didn’t take his hand away. The warmth of Will’s cheek infiltrated his fingertips as he steadied Will’s face, giving himself a still canvas to work on.
He swept the makeup over Will’s eye slowly, carefully, and he didn’t breathe until the black line was complete.
“There. Now, um, the other eye . . .” Mike whispered mindlessly, moving his hand over to the other side of Will’s face.
His knuckles pressed gently against Will’s cheek as he prepared to draw the next line. His eyes involuntarily fell down Will’s face, and Mike realized how close they really were.
It would be so easy for him to tilt his head down and press a kiss to Will’s lips . . .
Mike had never wanted to kiss someone so much. He swallowed, hard, and focused back on the task at hand.
Once he was done with the eyeliner, Mike took a step back, offering Will a small smile. “Your turn,” he said, handing him the eyeliner.
Will brought the liner up to Mike’s face, but he was shaking, bad.
Mike grabbed Will’s hand that was frozen in front of him. “Will?” he said gently.
“I’m sorry,” Will whispered. “I don’t think I can do it.”
“Hey, it’s okay,” Mike said, taking the pencil out of Will’s hand. “I can just do it myself.”
“You sure?” Will asked.
“Yeah,” Mike nodded, turning to the mirror. He started drawing two lines across his eyelids, much more carelessly than he had done Will’s, “Done.”
Will smiled. “You look great.”
“Um — I — thanks,” Mike said dumbly.
They stared at each other, shy smiles on both their faces.
Maybe now was the time —
“Are you guys almost done?” came Max’s voice from the other side of the bathroom door. “You’re taking forever in there, and El and I have to get ready, too!”
Not the time.
⛊₊˚⊹♡
The house hosting the party was decorated to the extreme. Cotton cobwebs hung along every wall, littered with plastic spiders. Skeletons dangled from tree branches and door handles. A smoke machine covered the floor in a white cloud of mystery.
And through the artificial horrors, Mike didn’t leave Will’s side once.
They both had lost their sunglasses only a few minutes after arriving at the party, but the bandana and hat were still going strong. Currently, they were in an empty hallway, where they had found the house cat, and Will eagerly rushed to pet it.
Mike thought it had been fun at first, petting the cat, but 20 minutes later, Will still didn’t want to leave the animal.
Mike was waiting as patiently as he could while Will talked to the cat like it could understand him. ("Aren't you the nicest, goodest kitty ever?") Then, two people came out of a bedroom, their clothes disheveled and their hair in disarray, and Will fell silent as they passed.
Mike waited to speak up until after the two people had left the hallway. “Hey, wasn’t that the boy El likes?” He definitely hadn’t come out of the bedroom with El.
“Yeah . . .” Will mumbled from his spot on the floor, squatting next to the cat. “It’s okay; he seemed like a jerk anyway.”
“Yeah,” Mike agreed.
He bent down, keeping his gaze on Will while Will kept his gaze on the cat. Great, was he seriously competing for Will’s attention with a cat now?
“That eyeliner makes your eyes look, like, way bigger,” Mike said.
Will looked up at him, finally. “It makes yours look bigger, too.”
“What if we do something even better next year? Like Tears For Fears or — ”
“I wouldn’t say Tears For Fears are necessarily better than Guns N’ Roses,” Will interrupted.
Mike furrowed his brow. “What? They so are.”
“I don’t think so,” Will chuckled.
“I’m going to pretend you didn’t just say that — ”
“There you guys are!” Lucas shouted as he approached them. He threw an arm over Will’s shoulder. “I’ve been looking all over for you.”
Mike’s nostrils flared with irritation. “Why?”
“I need to borrow Will real quick, man. I’m sorry; I’ll bring him right back,” Lucas said, already dragging Will away from Mike and the meowing cat.
Mike slumped to the floor, scratching the cat’s neck while he waited for Will to come back.
However, Lucas Sinclair turned out to be a liar. It was not ‘real quick’; Will had been gone almost 15 minutes, so Mike decided to go look for them. He got up from the floor and the cat gave him one final look — perhaps to thank him for all the pets and attention — before running off.
Mike took off, too, making a stop at the kitchen, where he poured himself a bit of the ‘Vampire’s Blood’ punch into a red solo cup. It tasted heavily of vodka and fruit punch.
Then he wandered to the living room, where he found Will and Lucas talking, and El, Max, and Dustin dancing.
He made his way over to his friends, but as he approached them, a witch bumped into him, causing the red punch to spill all over Lucas’s white shirt.
“Shit,” Mike’s eyes widened, “I am so sorry, dude.”
Lucas looked a little annoyed, but he could only shrug. “It’s okay . . .” he said.
All of a sudden, Max was at Lucas’s side. “Mike, what is wrong with you?” she said exasperatedly. “Come on." She grabbed Lucas’s hand and pulled him to the nearest bathroom.
Mike met Will’s eyes. “Do you think Lucas is mad at me?” he asked timidly.
The corners of Will’s mouth turned up. “No. Why would he be mad at you? It was an accident.”
“Yeah . . .” Mike nodded. “But what if I said . . . I’m kind of glad I spilled my drink on him?”
Will let out a laugh of surprise. “What? Why?”
“Because he stole you from me,” Mike replied without a second thought. He would've panicked, but then Will's smile only grew and he realized there was no reason to.
“You are," Will started fondly, "ridiculous.”
“No, seriously,” Mike grinned, “what did he even need you for, anyway?”
“I was trying to help him come up with a way to get Max’s attention, but . . . looks like it worked out.” Will nodded his head toward the bathroom Lucas and Max had stumbled into together.
Mike was about to say something else when his peripheral vision caught two familiar people kissing.
“Will,” he leaned in close, talking directly into Will’s ear, “don’t freak out, but I think El and Dustin are making out right now.”
Will’s eyes widened, and he turned his head discreetly, toward Dustin and El, before letting it fall to Mike’s shoulder. “What is even going on right now?” he said in between fits of laughter.
Mike beamed. “Do you want to go home? We can steal Holly’s candy and play some video games.”
Will nodded, his face lighting up. “Sure.”
⛊₊˚⊹♡
They didn’t let any of their friends know they were leaving, as both Max and Lucas and Dustin and El seemed rather . . . busy.
So they couldn’t even get a ride back to Mike’s house. Instead, they had to walk home. But it wasn’t too long of a walk, only about 20 minutes.
The moon was out and the air was cold as they walked down the vacant street. Their arms were brushing, and Mike had to resist the urge to grab Will’s hand.
“Can I ask you something?” Will said, breaking the comfortable silence.
“Yeah, anything,” Mike replied.
“Why did it bother you so much? That I liked Lucas?”
Mike bit his lip. Could now be the time? “Honestly, I think it would bother me if you liked anyone.”
Will frowned. “But — why?”
Mike stammered, “Because . . . well, you — you can’t date any of the boys in Hawkins. You’re too good for them.”
Will stopped walking, his eyebrows furrowed in frustration. “Okay, but — I can’t be single forever, Mike. I want a boyfriend — not Lucas, obviously — but any other boy. I mean, I would at least like to kiss someone once.”
“ ‘Any other boy?’ Really, Will?” Mike said, his voice tinged with annoyance.
“You know what I meant," Will rolled his eyes, “And even if I did want to kiss a random boy, how does it affect you at all? You need to stop treating me like — like I belong to you or something.”
“Did you ever think,” Mike started impulsively, all of his frustrations from the past few weeks surfacing, “you sort of do?”
Will’s mouth fell open. “What?”
“You were my friend first. You’ve been my best friend my entire life. I know you better than anyone — except for maybe Jonathan,” Mike rambled on, “I know when you’re upset, when you’re mad, when you’re happy, or pretending to be happy . . .”
“Then what am I now, Mike?” Will demanded earnestly.
Mike stilled, assessing the expression on Will’s face — wide-eyed, cheeks flushed. His eyes were desperately searching Mike’s face, and —
Oh.
Will wanted — needed — Mike to kiss him, like, right now.
Mike stepped forward so fast, his hat fell off of his head. He slammed his lips to Will’s, and Will faltered briefly against him.
While the initial touch of their lips was bruising, their mouths soon molded into each other’s, and their tongues brushed intimately. Will held onto him tightly as Mike dissolved the kiss into soft pecks, pressed against swollen lips.
Mike leaned his forehead against Will’s. “I like you . . . a lot. . . . And I really don’t want you to kiss anyone else,” he added.
“Really?” Will breathed out.
Mike nodded, helplessly. “I’ve been trying to figure out how to tell you all week."
“I — I like you, too,” Will admitted.
“Do you really?”
Will sighed, pulling away. “Mike, I’ve liked you for 12 years. I mean, I almost passed out trying to do your eyeliner.”
Mike gaped at him. “But — but, you said, Lucas — ”
“I said I barely had a crush on Lucas for a week! And I only mentioned it so I didn’t have to talk about who I really liked — you. Since we were little, I’ve liked you.”
Mike’s eyes widened. “What? How could you not tell me?”
“I didn’t ever expect you to like me back. Don’t look at me like that, I thought you were straight. I was just going to keep it a secret the rest of my life.”
Mike shook his head, smiling affectionately. “What is wrong with you,” he mumbled, pressing a kiss to Will’s cheek, which was warm despite the cold weather.
“Me?” Will said in disbelief, amusement coating his features. “What is wrong with you. You spent all of October holding this weird grudge against Lucas for no reason.”
Mike pouted, feigning despair. “Thanks for reminding me; you were flirting with him at lunch.”
“Oh, my god.”
“Kidding! I’m kidding,” Mike laughed. “I know, I should apologize to Lucas for how I was acting. I will.”
“Good,” Will said. His smile and eyes holding a brightness Mike wasn't sure he'd ever seen before. “Now, come on. Let’s go home.”
Mike grinned, grabbing Will’s hand freely now, and following him down the street.
⛊₊˚⊹♡