AN: I love the ongoing joke (idk if it's a joke atp because it seems pretty canon) in the fandom that Jonathan HATES Mike 💀 idk why it's just so funny and silly?? What you've all been waiting for, Mike trying to court Will like the adorable dork he is <3!!
Mike rode his bike all the way to the Byers household. His heavy backpack slowed the journey down a bit, but he still was able to get there (despite fighting for breath on his ex boyfriends doorstep). He pounded heavily on the door before a tired and disheveled looking man answered for him.
"Hi! Uh, who are you?" Mike tried to be as polite as possible.
"Jonathan. And you are?"
He felt his heart drop. Oh. This was the guy that Nancy was practically drooling over. Well, better now than never! He disguised his realization with a bright and charming smile. "Mike Wheeler! It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Oh, you. I've heard a lot about you."
"Good things I hope?" Mike chuckled. Jonathan only gave him a killer side eye. "Is Will home?" He quickly changed the subject. Jonathan shook his head with a grunt. This dude literally looked like he was trying to explode him with his mind. Were all of Will's family members this hateful?
"He's out with his friends. He'll be back in a few hours."
"Ah...uh, alright!" Mike nodded. "Well, see you around!"
He was responded with a half-assed wave to Mike then slammed the door shut. Wheeler got back on his bike and started the trail all the way back to his own house.
Goddamn! That stare was a killer! Must be genetics; Mike decided. Will had a murderous glare as well. Luckily he'd never have to see it ever again.
-
The next day at school, Mike and Max were on their way together to the cafeteria. Well, Mike thought they were going to the cafeteria. The redhead gave him an excuse that they're taking the scenic route. Mike shrugged it off. She's always been weird like that anyway.
Oh, 'scenic route' his ass! This was a plot to get Will and him in the same room together! Why else would the rest of his friends and ex boyfriend all conveniently be in the same empty classroom to eat lunch?! He gave Max an angry look but she only gave a snarky smile back.
"Maxine Mayfield," he snapped warningly. Will looked up from the drawing he was showing Dustin and stared at Mike in surprise. "Hey! Will! Uh, how are you doing?" His tone instantly softened. Will looked over at Dustin for seemingly an explanation, the latter only gave him a short nod and knowing look.
"...I'm doing...fine?" Will sounded like he was treading carefully on his words, as if anything he said would set off an explosion within Mike.
"That's great! What're you drawing?"
Will hesitantly showed him an extremely detailed drawing of a dragon, accompanied with cute little doodles of medieval looking characters interacting with said dragon and each other. Mike found himself lost in the drawings beauty, almost forgetting to respond. "That's so cool! Speaking of dragons, actually, I got you this thing and I think you'd really like it!"
Will perked up the slightest bit. "Huh? You got me something? Why?"
"I just...felt like it." What else could he say? Telling his ex boyfriend that he suddenly gained a giant whopper crush on him would seem kinda sketchy, right?
"Well what is it?"
"I don't have it with me, but trust me when I say I think you'll like it."
-
Okay, Mike was sure Will would be home today. What could he be doing after school at 4 pm?
He shouted a quick goodbye to his mom then started biking to the Byers house. He took a shorter route due to his backpack being way too heavy with his gift for comfort. After arriving at the house, he once again knocked on the front door and was greeted by Jonathan.
"Yes? Do you need anything?" The man sounded slightly annoyed just by his presence, but whatever. Mike had more important things to worry about.
"Is Will home?"
"He just went out with my mom shopping for groceries."
"Seriously?"
"Yes. He has a life outside of you, you know," Jonathan responded. Mike's annoyance with the statement must've been visible, seeing as Jonathan immediately backtracked. "It was a joke. Do you want me to give him a message?"
"No, just...uh...I guess tell him I dropped by."
"Will do."
-
Okay. Third times the charm! Mike was about 60% sure that Will would be home today to accept his gift.
He wasn't. But guess who was? Jonathan. And he looked just as annoyed as Mike felt. "This is the third time in a row you've come to our house looking for Will. He's out with his friend Dustin."
"Dustin?! The hell is he doing with Dustin?" Mike scoffed. He didn't even attempt to hide his jealousy (which he doesn't want to unpack right now, thank you very much).
"I don't know? I think they're studying together."
Mike furrowed his eyebrows and pouted. "He's never home!" Deep down, he knew he looked (and probably sounded) like a tantruming child. Could you blame him? He was trying to give Will a gift and it was getting so frustrating!
"Listen, I'll tell him you stopped by. You like that compromise?"
"I guess. Cya."
-
Fourth times the..there isn't a saying for that. There also isn't an exact estimate on how many more times Mike's willing to bike 15 minutes to the Byers house just to get greeted with some pissed off teenager. It was getting tiring and irritating quick. This time, a woman around his mothers age answered. "Hello? Who are you?"
"Oh! Hi ma'am, I'm Mike Wheeler!" Her face instantly soured, but she covered it up with a fake smile. "Ah...you know what I did, huh?"
"You could say that. Why did you stop by?"
"Uh, I have this...thing for Will. I wanna give it to him at school but it just doesn't fit in my backpack with all my school supplies."
"Oh. Well, he's not here right now. Sorry."
Mike nodded. He got back on his bike and started the ride back to his house. Great. Now a 40+ year old woman knew how much of an asshole he was. Could this get any worse?!
-
Maybe it could get worse. Maybe Will won't be here for the 5th day in a row and he'll just embarrass himself. Mike knocked on the front door and waited for a response.
"Wild guess; you're here for my brother?" Jonathan quirked an eyebrow.
"How did you figure it out?" Mike gasped sarcastically. Jonathan chuckled and looked back into the house.
"He's here but uh...asleep. I don't wanna wake him up but this is the 5th day in a row, give me a few minutes."
"Thanks!" Mike sighed in relief. Finally! He can give Will this gift and make him feel happy for once! Today couldn't get any better.
It did get better.
When Will answered the door, he looked absolutely stunning. His hair was messy from presumably tossing and turning in his sleep, he had on a baggy grey sweatshirt and striped blue pajama pants. Drool was drying off the corner of his mouth. He blinked at him a few times, seemingly trying to understand what was going on. Will quickly wiped his face with his sleeve once understanding that Mike was right in front of him. "Hey, what're you doing here?"
"I have my gift! But I kinda have to use the bathroom...can I come inside for a sec?"
Will nodded and stood aside for Mike to enter his home. Will pointed down the hall, Mike following his fingers and making a mad-dash to the restroom. He barely made it, but that's besides the point. He wiped off his wet hands on his pants and went back into the living room.
Will smiled up at him. His cheeks were a wonderful shade of pink. "Sorry I look so...bleh. I just woke up and I wasn't expecting company."
"You look stunning. I mean- shit!" Mike stumbled over his words. Will only gave him a shy smile in response to his flustered demeanor. "You're always- DAMN IT. Anyways, my gift- well, gifts technically, are all in this bag." Mike handed him a decently sized shopping bag. Will gave him a curious blink before sifting through the blue and yellow wrapping paper.
The bag contained five 10 sided dice, a customized dice storage box, a journal, a blood-red quilled pen,
The DnD Art & Arcna book, and an official cookbook for DnD players. Will looked back up at him in pure shock, then back down at his gifts, then back up to him. "Dude. How the hell did you get all this stuff? And why would you give it away for free?!"
"I used to really like DnD when I was younger. I found out you liked it and decided to pull together all my old stuff. You'd put it to more use than I would, anyways."
"Oh, Mike! I don't know what to say.." Will sounded like he was tearing up. "Thank you."
He was pulled into a tight hug. Mike was frozen in surprise before he wrapped his arms around Will, sinking into his embrace. "You're so sweet.." Will sighed. "Sorry for making this weird. I just really like Dungeons and Dragons, I just never had enough time to go out and get all the stuff I needed."
"It's fine. You deserve it."
They sat in silence for a few minutes before Will spoke up again. "Mike, about what you said earlier, do you really think I'm...stunning?"
"Huh?"
Will instantly pulled back from the hug. "Sorry. Never mind. Forget I said anything."
"Will, I meant it. I-I meant exactly what I said."
"Really?"
"Really."
AN: i hate this chapter but anyways. This ending actually ties really well into the next chapter, which might be even fluffier than this one. CW: I don't know anything about DND, I just looked up DnD gifts on Amazon and wrote down what showed up 💀