TW: foul language, negative thoughts
Art cred: noodles _and_tea
Will was in his room. Calmly painting. He didn't know what it was supposed to be but it was a drawing. Maybe even a portrait. A portrait of a raven haired boy and his pale skin. It was a boy Will knew from the heart, every detail was engraved in his mind. He knew exactly what he looked like without even having to think about it. His paint brush flowing and creating his dark curls. He knew Mike was in the room next to him. But he was with his sister. Just talking. He had heard shouting but his head was stuck on his artwork.
He was even more surprised when his door burst open and a sad looking Mike walked in. He bounced up and down on his bed and Will couldn't help but ask the dreaded question.
"Are you okay?"
"I fucked up!" Mike almost shouts. A thunder rumbling as he does.
"H-Hey, it's o-okay, U-Uhm"
Will couldn't help it. Since his disappearance he has had a great fear of thunder. It brought him back to does days he had spent hiding. In Hawkins library, his forest fort, his own house. Every minute at least one large thunder would strike in the other realm. He hated any sound of it. Rumbling or even just seeing it. Thunder was one of his biggest fears. It broke him.
His breathing was catching up and the raven haired boy noticed. He would say he knew Will like he knew the back of his hand but not this past year. It had been different. Mike now, was aware. More aware than ever. He knew it now. How this boys eyes made his stomach turn. And how his voice would make him crumble inside. He knew he liked Will but he didn't dare to express it. Except for today.
"What's wrong?" He said, forgetting what had happened in the room next door.
"O-Oh, Uhm, just- Thunder..."
"It scares you?"
"N-No it's- it b-brings back o-old me-mories"
Mike thought for a second before remembering a conversation he had with Will all does years ago.
"The upside down... memorise?"
"Y-Yeah..."
Will was on the verge of tears at this point. His heart was in his throat and he could feel his own tears stinging his eyes. He didn't want those memories. He wanted his normal life. Where he would play dnd and other games all day. Watching movies and where his sister hadn't taken over his best friend.
"You know I'm here... I'm always here"
"No... you're only h-here for J-Jane..." Will sounded surer.
"What?"
"Y-You and Jane a-are there for each o-ther and I-I have my brother... that's how it i-is"
"Will... I don't love El..."
Will just stared at him.
"These past months have been weird... and I mean- Dustin and Lucas, their great it's just Hawkins it's not the same without you" Mike babbles. His mind thinking back to every day he had spent at school. All the painful hours he had tried to write a letter to his best friend in California. But all he could write was sentences with the same meaning. It was impossible to write. Mike knew he was bad with words. He hated himself because of it. But this day seemed different. Everything was already crumbling so why not let it fall.
"I-I love you... not El, and El knows that too"
Mike was shocked at his own words. He never thought he would be able to say it. His life had been filled with all the homophobic comments you could think of. His own dad verbally abused him. Telling him the worst about every person he didn't enjoy. Will would be one of those people. According to his dad William Byers wasn't normal. William Byers was one of them queers.
"M-Mike?" Will said, snapping Mike back to reality.
Will didn't think it was true. He didn't believe in Mike's words. They couldn't believe them. Because Michael Wheeler wasn't a fag like him. And that's what Mike had told himself. He wasn't a fag. Just like his dad said. But at this moment he only wanted to do one thing. And that was to be able to kiss William Byers. That's was all he ever had wanted to do. But he hadn't had the courage to. And he had suppressed all those feelings and done the worst thing possible. By...
"You're dating my sister!" Will tried to excuse.
"Not... anymore"
E-Jane was a powerful person. But that was what Mike had liked all those years ago. Her powers. Not her. He liked the idea of her. And he now knew that. Because Jane knew all that.
Will's eyes were wider than ever. His cheeks flushed red and hands slightly shaking. It wasn't a joke. Mike truly had the same feelings as him. And Mike still thought Will didn't. But he was proven wrong by Will's lips slammed against his.
Will not being able to contain his excitement anymore. Kissing the pale pink lips of the boy he had liked since he was a kid. The two of them now kissing, Will's hands around Mike's face and Mike's arms wrapped tightly around him as both of them kiss each other. Both their minds stuck in that one place and one time. Wills first kiss. And Mike's first true kiss. Will's mind caught up to even notice the rain smacking against the window. As they broke apart he felt Mike's shaking breathe over his face. And he took the taller boy into his arms. Holding him in a tight embrace.
They laid in Will's bed. Their arms wrapped around each other. Mike's eyes shut with his head in Will's hair. And Will, adorably listening to Mike's heartbeat slow down. Both of them fell asleep in one another's arms. The last thing Mike saw was a beautiful painting. That oddly looked a lot like him.
Ahhhh this is so bitter sweet!
Word count: 1018
