Chapter Text
Will yawned, jostled by a body crawling in beside him. He cracked an eye open, “Well, good morning.” He greeted as Mike wrapped his limbs around him and nuzzled his face in his neck like a koala.
The boy clinging to him smiled and parted momentarily to wriggle under the covers before attaching himself again, “Morning!” He cheered, unusually chipper for the early hour, “I missed you.”
Will spared a glance at his alarm clock and grinned, hugging his boyfriend tight and poking his pouted lip, “I saw you less than ten hours ago!” He stated, but Mike scoffed, shaking his head.
“It was like a year.” Mike exaggerated, peering up at him like a wounded puppy to really sell it.
Will cooed, planting kisses on Mike’s face until the pouty lips and deep creases faded away, and he was smiling contently, “I nearly forgot what your kisses feel like.” Mike mumbled.
“Oh, my god.” Will rolled his eyes, but he was clearly amused. In his chest, his heart thundered. No matter how many times they kissed, his heart would always race like it was the first, falling more and more in love with Mike every day. Even when it felt impossible to do so, his heart just grew bigger. And he knew his boyfriend felt the same. Mike stared at him like he hung the moon and stars.
“Are you going to cling to me all day?” He asked.
Mike thought momentarily, rubbing his chin as if contemplating before nodding, “Yeah.” He dove back into his boyfriend’s chest.
Will sighed but held him closer. He didn’t mind. Once, when Will was feeling particularly clingy, Mike carried him around all day like a backpack, “I suppose that’s okay then.”
An hour later, Joyce chuckled when Will walked into the living room with Mike secured to his back, “We might as well sew you two together.” She teased, and Mike nodded rapidly into Will’s neck.
“Good idea. I like it.”
“Ugh!” El glared over her plate of eggos, wailing with a mouthful of them, “Ma’e them s’op!”
“I second that.” Hopper raised his hand, sipping from his mug, “Any more of that, and you’re out.”
Mike huffed as Hopper pointed at him. The man would never kick him out. He’d snuck his way into Hopper’s heart like a worm. The man drives him home whether or not it’s raining and is one of the first people Mike goes to when he’s scared. He helped the man quit smoking.
But god forbid they act like they don’t hate each other.
“Will would never let you.” Mike said smugly, shifting further behind Will like he was hiding, “Right?” He tugged on his boyfriend’s shirt.
Will chuckled, “Right.”
Jonathan joined Hopper with a mug of coffee, crossing his arms, “How are you two still like this?” He laughed, bewildered, “You’ve been dating for a year!”
Will and Mike frowned, sharing a look before speaking in sync, “Poor Nancy.”
Jonathan gaped, “Alright, that’s it.” He set his mug down and sprinted at them, making them squeal and run away, still joined together like a multi-legged race, “Come back here!”
“No!” Will laughed and yanked Mike into his room, slamming the door behind them. The two slid to the ground and pushed against it as Jonathan tried to come in, barely able to hold it closed as they laughed.
How they went from that to this… Will didn’t know.
“Mike!” He wailed, tears raining down his cheeks as he knocked hard on Mike’s bedroom window, holding onto the trellis, “Mike please… p-please let me in- please can we just talk?!”
The curtains remained closed from where Mike had shut them after shattering Will’s heart, and his pleas remained unanswered, but to stop would be to give up, and Will couldn’t bring himself to do it. He could barely climb back to the ground without falling. He sat on the wet grass, sobbing until his lungs ached, and refused to move. He planted himself in the ground like a tree and would stay there until Mike came out to talk to him.
It couldn’t end like this.
━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━
One day earlier
Mike yawned as he woke, snuggled into his boyfriend’s arms. He frowned as golden sunlight oozed into his bedroom like honey, “Will.” He shook the body beside him, grumbling as he sat up.
Will’s eyes cracked open, a similar frown forming on his features, “Did we fall asleep?” He croaked and followed Mike, wrapping his arms around his waist and laying his head down on his shoulder, “What time is it?”
Mike fell into his chest like he was magnetised, smacking his lips together as he turned to the clock on the blue wall, “Hmm…” He squinted, “Dinnertime.”
In tune, Mike’s stomach growled and Will pat it, laughing, “Wanna go out to eat?” He asked. Mike nodded eagerly, pouncing on him like his old dog.
“We should go to the movies! Nobody can see us in the dark. We can be like a normal couple!”
Will rolled his eyes, his arms bracketing around Mike’s waist, “We are a normal couple.” He pecked his nose.
Mike blushed, “Yeah,” He drawled, “But like a socially accepted couple.”
Will winced, “Don’t make me sad before our date.” He scolded and groaned dramatically as Mike grumbled under his breath and hid his red face, “You react this like every time I call something a date!”
“Then you should know to be more careful with your words by now!”
Will rolled his eyes, his fingers crawling into Mike’s jumper to strum up and down his spine, nails scratching soothingly, “Come on,” He pinched his skin, “Let’s go before we fall asleep again.”
Mike complained but left the bed, rubbing his eyes as Will grabbed their wallets and took his hand, guiding him through his house and down the stairs until they reached the kitchen. Their hands separated before Mike’s parents could see, but they walked close enough for their arms to brush together as they left the house, “What movies are on?” Will asked.
Mike shrugged, “Dunno,” He grinned, “But I doubt we’ll see much of it anyway.”
Will gasped, “Michael Wheeler!”
Mike cackled, swinging a leg over his bike, “C’mon!”
━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━
Mike stretched, walking down his driveway in the soft early night light, “That movie was great.”
Will cocked an eyebrow, “Name one thing that happened.”
Mike shrugged, “There were credits.”
“Terrible.” Will rolled his eyes, “You’re not going to be able to fall asleep tonight.”
Mike scrunched his nose, “It’s not my fault I fell asleep.” He scoffed, “You were playing with my hair.”
Will threw up his hands, “Fair enough. That is the ‘Mike falls asleep’ button.”
Mike chuckled, hands squirming a little at the warm and gooey feeling inside of him, “See. Because of you’ll, I’ll never know what happened.”
Will sighed, tempted to lean over and give Mike a quick peck, but he never would. They couldn’t risk their safety, and in a small town like this, god knows what people would do to them if they found out.
Will would like to graduate high school rather than be taken out by a prejudiced asshole after all else he’s managed to survive.
But their gaze held everything they couldn’t do.
“Redo then?” Will proposed, “My room? Ghostbusters tomorrow? I can make us cocoa and make sure you don’t fall asleep.”
Mike smiled, a blush high on his cheeks, “Absolutely. Goodnight, Will.”
“Goodnight, Mike.” Will reciprocated the tender whisper, waiting until Mike closed the door to turn around and go home.
He’d wish he didn’t.
━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━
With a lingering smile on his lips, Mike headed for the stairs, twiddling his thumbs with a sway in his step. He had half the mind to catch up to Will biking home and stay with him, but this was his first night home in four days, and he didn’t want to be excessive.
“Mike.”
He halted on the stairs with a heavy sigh, “Yes, Mom?” He called.
“Come here, please.”
Dropping his head, Mike cursed himself for not having gone home with Will and trudged down the stairs, “I ate dinner at the movies.” He told her, but Karen’s face didn’t relax, “And I’m not staying at Will’s tonight.”
At that, Karen looked away, turning to Ted, who sat unusually at the kitchen table and not his chair in front of the TV, “That’s not why we called you.”
Mike began to sweat a little. Was this about the C he got in gym? It couldn’t be because of that grade. While it was his lowest amongst the other subjects, it was the highest he’d ever gotten in gym.
Thank god for Max chasing him around with a dodgeball.
“What is it?” He asked, picking nervously at the skin around his fingers. He didn’t like the looks on their faces at all.
Karen took a deep breath, a wine glass empty at her side, and threaded her fingers through her husband’s, “I walked into your room earlier. to get your laundry, and I saw…” She trailed off, but Mike knew what she was going to say.
His shoulders rose to his ears, his breath starting to swirl in his chest, “S-Saw what?” He played clueless, but the panic was evident in his voice.
Karen shut her eyes, face scrunched like she was in pain, “I’ve had my suspicions.” She whispered, “But seeing you two asleep like that… it confirmed my fears.”
Mike’s knees felt like they were going to buckle, his heart hammered in his ears, and his vision darkened like tunnels. This had to be a nightmare, and any second now, he’d wake up to an end credits scene and his boyfriend at his side, “M-Mom-”
“You’re with a boy.” Karen choked out, “You’re in a relationship with Will Byers.”
Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up. He chanted. Everything in him was screaming to run, his flight instinct soaring through him in icy pulses, but he couldn’t get his feet to move. He was trapped in his worst nightmare, one he couldn’t escape from by opening his eyes.
His silence was his admittance. Tears tipped over his waterline as Karen’s shoulders slumped, a disappointed, grieved sigh deflating her chest. Her tears mirrored her son’s and her husband’s matte, shamed gaze burned brands on Mike’s heart.
“I-I’m- I’m not-”
“Don’t lie to me.” Karen cut him off. Terror started to consume him, enveloping him from his head to his toes. He drowned in fear, his breath escaping him and his hands flailing with shakes.
“P-Please,” Mike whimpered. Despite all the demons he’d faced, he’d never been so scared in his entire life, “I-I’m not- t-that way. You have to believe me!”
Ted took a sip from his beer, the utter shame on his face ageing him. His wrinkles deepened like his face was melting, his eyes drooped, and he shook his head, “We’ve given you everything. And you become… this.” He scowled, gesturing up and down at Mike like his utter existence was a letdown.
Karen held her empty glass like she could fill it again if she stared hard enough, “Me and your father have been talking,” She began, watching her son take tiny steps backwards like it was all he could manage. He was terrified, and it hurt her heart, “We’ve come to an agreement.”
Mike didn’t know what to do. What could he do?
“You have one chance.” She sniffled, “If you don’t end this… shameful deviance, we will move town. You will never see your friends again, and we will enlist you in a reform program.”
A sob ripped from Mike’s throat, followed by an avalanche of cries tumbling from his lips, “Mom.” He wailed, “Dad, please! Please- I-I’m not- please! Please don’t do this-”
Karen wiped her eyes and lifted a hand, cutting him off with a louder voice than his, “But! If you do, and you agree to our terms, we will not move town, uprooting this family's lives because of you.”
Mike was hyperventilating, barreling into a major panic attack, “T-This is- this is bull-”
“Choose!” Karen ordered and kicked out the chair opposite them for Mike to sit down.
He was backed into a corner, and he knew it. Hand over his mouth, collecting his cries like a net, he collapsed into the chair, “Our terms.” Karen squeezed her husband’s hand, “No contact with your friends. Teachers will separate you in school, and you are to come straight home.”
Mike viciously scrubbed at his eyes. After this, he was going to bolt to the Byers and hide out there. After all, they had a plan for if this happened, if Mike were outed and kicked out or forced to run away, they would take him in.
“You’re grounded for six months. No comics, no TV, you are to do Sunday school at the church and attend weekly sessions with the pastor. And you are never to have contact with the Byers ever again. If you break any of these terms, we will move away.”
Mike slammed his hands on the table, “Never!” He yelled and stood on wobbly knees, prepared to run.
“If you don’t agree,” Karen stopped him, “Not only will we move away, but we’ll let everyone know that Will forced you to be like… him. I don’t have to tell you what that’ll do to him and his family, do I?”
Mike turned toward them again, horror settling into his bones. He couldn’t believe what he heard.
“That’ll embarrass you.” He croaked, “Don’t you care?”
Karen squeezed her eyes shut, clearly pained, “Of course. But we’ll be moving far away. Won’t affect us.” She shrugged.
If he didn’t grab the pillar, Mike’s knees would have given in. This couldn’t be fucking happening.
He had a plan for every scenario but his one. If he went to the Byers, his parents would out them, and then Will would pay for it while they dragged him kicking and screaming to somewhere new. Nobody would care for them. His parents would just have to insinuate what Will was for any law enforcement officer to take their side, Hopper’s chief position aside.
“Mom.” He sobbed, “Please. I-I… I-I love him.”
Ted downed the rest of his beer and fled the scene, “I cannot believe you’re my son.” He whispered.
Mike clutched his chest like he could hold his breath and keep it still, “Mom,” He begged, “Please! Please don’t do this…”
But Karen wouldn’t budge. She turned her cheek and waited.
Mike covered his eyes, his sleeves growing damp. The world was crumbling around him as if Vecna had succeeded at hurting Max and tearing the floor open beneath their feet. His world was ending.
“Okay…” He hiccuped and slid down the wall, curled into a ball. He barely slept a wink that night, shifting from hysteric sobs to numb staring, eventually dozing off from complete exhaustion when the sun started to rise.
It was over. Mike lost everything.
━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━
Will practically had a skip in his step as he walked up to the Wheeler house. The sun was shining brightly, dew on the grass glistened like flakes of glitter, and birds cheeped and entangled, swooping through the sky.
At times like these, Will’s life felt like a movie. He had the boy of his dreams, he was free of the Upside Down, and he spent every day relishing it. He never thought he’d be the hopeless romantic type. He was romantic, but he was becoming sickeningly so.
He knocked on the door, bouncing on his toes. Their friends labelled Mike as the clingy one in their relationship, but Will was just as bad. He had what he’d dreamed of for years, and he latched onto it at every given opportunity.
The door opened, greeting him with Ted Wheeler, and Will bit back a sigh, “I’m here for Mike.”
Ted stared at him for a second too long and then spoke, “No more of this.” He said flatly and shut the door before Will could argue.
Will blinked in surprise, but maybe they were sick of Will being over or Mike being gone, or maybe Mike was grounded again. As he grew older, his parents seemed to ground him for every slight. In a way, it was better than throwing his sentimental collectables in the trash, but the painfully dismissive method grated on Will’s nerves.
He shrugged. He’d just climb his boyfriend’s trellis up to the window as usual, sneaking him out. It’s not like his parents would notice his absence.
Will spared a look around to see if any neighbours were watching, but nobody was. Not even the closest neighbour, the Sinclair house. Lucas often teased him for climbing up to Mike’s window like he was a prince.
He grabbed the shelves and climbed with expert efficiency, placing his feet in dirt marks from his previous climbs until he reached Mike’s bedroom, holding onto the window sill. He giggled and knocked quietly, “Mike!” He sang, but not so loud his parents would hear, “Open up.”
For a while, he didn’t hear anything. He smirked and tested to see if the window was open. If it were, he’d jump on Mike and wake him up like Mike likes to do, but alas, it was locked.
It was then he heard soft footsteps as if Mike had just woken and was confusedly dragging himself to the window. Will smiled around, a fond feeling stirring in his chest, prepared to jump inside and kiss his drowsy boyfriend and pet his bed-head hair until the curtains parted and he set eyes on Mike’s face.
His smile fell instantly. Mike looked terrible. His eyes were surrounded by dark circles and bloodshot veins, his cheeks were swollen and red, and he was clearly on the verge of tears if his quivering chin said anything.
“Mike,” Will scrambled higher, nudging pointlessly at the window again, “Mike, what’s wrong? Let me in.”
He needed to hold his boyfriend right now.
But Mike didn’t open the window. He turned his back, pulled a chair up to the window and sat down, finally cracking it open.
Will pushed it up before Mike could and moved to climb inside until a hand on his shoulder held him in place, “No,” Mike said firmly, “You can’t come in.”
Will frowned, “What- why?” He asked, alarmed.
Mike sniffled. He refused to look at him, instead, turning his face away to eye a spot on his bedroom door, “This… it’ll be easier if you don’t come in.” He sniffled again, tipping his head up like he was begging the tears to stay on his water line.
“Mike, what happened?” Will repeated, reaching for his boyfriend’s hand, but Mike flinched away, his chin quivering harder, and Will flinched too, “You’re scaring me. Please let me in.”
Mike didn’t say anything. He hid his face again and tried to stop his shoulders from shaking, “Mike.” Will’s voice shook, like Mike’s pain was his own, “What’s going on? Please let me in, or come out. I can make you hot cocoa.”
Mike still didn’t say anything, and judging by the shoulders up to his ears and the small, choked sounds, he was restraining sobs while tears rained down his cheeks, “Mike, please talk to me. Was it a nightma-”
“We have to break up.” Mike sobbed. He couldn’t hold it in. He was losing Will again.
For good this time.
Will damn near fell to the ground, “What?” He gaped, feeling his heart crack and race at the same time, “Mike- what?”
Everything was so amazing yesterday. What could have caused this? What did he do?
“I’m sorry.” Mike whispered, wiping his eyes, “I-I’ve been w-wanting to do this for a while I-I just couldn’t muster up the courage. I… I don’t love you anymore.”
Will’s eyes filled with tears. He was confused. That couldn’t be true, “I don’t believe you.” He whispered, but Mike barreled on regardless.
“I-I still care about you,” He choked out, “And I know it’ll fuck up our friend group, so I’ve been hesitating. B-But-” He trailed off, his voice thinning to air as he clutched his stomach like he was going to throw up, “I’ve decided you can have all of our friends. I-I’ll back off. I’m sorry.”
Sobs finally bubbled from Will’s throat, his grip becoming weaker and weaker. He once again tried to climb into Mike’s room, “You d-don’t just fall out of love overnight. What happened?” He asked, but Mike just pushed him outside again, being careful not to shove him too hard, “What the fuck, Mike? Why are you doing this?”
Mike’s chest hopped as he cried hard, shuddering like the last petal on a flower, “ You - I’m sorry.” He hiccuped, standing to shut the window, “I’m sorry.”
Will slammed the window back up, holding it with a shaking arm, “What did I do? I don’t fucking believe you, Mike!” He sobbed, “I know you love me, so what’s the real reason? I’m not leaving until you answer me!”
Mike wrestled his hand away, his touch lingering a tad too long as he secured Will’s hand back to the trellis, “We’re done. I’m sorry.” He cried firmly and shut the window with a loud thunk, drawing the curtains.
“Mike!” Will wailed, tears raining down his cheeks as he knocked hard on Mike’s bedroom window, holding onto the trellis, “Mike please… p-please let me in- please can we just talk?!”
The curtains remained closed, and Will’s heart shattered into hundreds of pieces. It was like he could hear it, feel it shatter from the inside out. The pain loosened his grip, and as much as he didn’t want to give in, it took the last of his strength to clumsily stumble down the wall until he landed on the grass, sobbing so hard he couldn’t breathe.
He planted himself in the ground like a tree and would stay there until Mike came out to talk to him.
It couldn’t end like this.
He couldn’t believe that Mike was in his room, okay with ending things.
Of course, he wasn’t. Mike listened to Will’s wailed pleas, muffling his own cries into his hand as he curled up at the edge of his bed. He felt sick. He might actually throw up.
His mother stood in the doorway, “You’ll thank me one day.” Karen murmured, but Mike just glared fire at her.
“I have never hated you,” He whispered, voice cracking with sobs, “But right now…”
“I’m doing what’s best for you.” She said and left him to writhe with cries, his door wide open against the wall as is their terms.
Mike collapsed on his bed, consumed by his pain.
━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━
Joyce was sitting with her husband, daughter, and eldest son watching TV when Will walked back through the door, shoulders sunken, tears drenching his collar. She gasped. He looked defeated, utterly miserable, “Baby?”
Something snapped because he burst into sobs again, extending his arms for her to hold him like a child, “Mom!” He cried, falling into her embrace as his family surrounded them, “Mom!”
“Honey, what’s wrong?” She panicked, holding him so tight his bones clicked, “Mom’s here…”
“What happened?” El joined their hug, copied by Jonathan and Hopper, who squeezed Will’s shoulder. What could have Will this hysterical?
“Is Mike okay?” Jonathan asked, and Will cried harder, “Shit, is he okay? Will?”
At the insinuation that Mike could be hurt or worse, they all started to panic, their own breaths coming in racing paces.
Will shook his head. There was agony in his chest, fiery hot like broken bones, “He-” Will stopped. If he said it, it would be real. It would be cemented in stone that he’d lost the love of his life.
Joyce held him tighter, practically carrying his weight as she guided him to the sofa back to sit, “He- he b-broke up with me.” He managed to choke out before diving into his mom’s arms, reaching for comfort like an infant.
His family gaped in shock. That was at the bottom of the list of what they’d expected him to say. For a moment, they considered they may have misheard him, but no other explanation came.
Joyce turned to Hopper, finding equal shock on his face, “What?” She whispered, “Honey- that can’t be true. You two are so in love-”
Will pulled back, his face swollen and red and his chest heaving with heavy heartbreak, “It’s true!” He persisted, “He said he didn’t love me anymore, and t-then he shut the window in my face!”
He fell into her arms again, limp, too broken to hold himself up, “He left me, Mom...”
Joyce had no words. Her lips formed to move them, but her tongue was ash emitting only a stunned gurgle as her son shook in her grip. Helpless, she turned to Hopper to find him charging for his keys, a storm on his face.
She held her son tighter, “Where- W-Where are you going?”
“To sort this out.” Hopper said flatly, “Wheeler wouldn’t just up and leave Will. Something is wrong.”
Relief coursed through her. It would be fine; Hopper would fix it. He would come back with Mike in tow, and everything would be fine again. She could comfort her son until then.
He left, and his siblings took Joyce’s place to console and hold him while she poured him water, “Drink, baby.” She coaxed, smoothing his hair down, and after regaining enough control of his breath not to choke, Will took small tips until he sobbed again.
El sniffled, sharing in his heartbreak. She lay her head on his shoulder, rubbing his back, “Mike loves you. I know he does.”
Will whimpered, shaking his head, “He turned his back like I was dirt.” He refused.
“It doesn’t make sense.” Jonathan whispered, “There were no signs- nothing was different!”
Joyce bit her lip, gnawing worriedly, “It has to be his parents.”
Will swiped tiredly at his wet eyes, “If it was his parents, wouldn’t he have come here? That’s what we planned if they found out.”
Joyce didn’t have a reply for that. She had to hope and pray that Hopper brought Mike back with him and try to hold her son’s broken heart together while they waited.
━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━
It was taking everything in him not to break.
Hopper had shown up on his doorstep and somehow managed to manoeuvre his way inside to talk to Mike. He looked concerned. Mike knew he wouldn’t believe that he broke up with Will of his own volition, and he hated it as much as it warmed his heart.
“Hey, kid,” Hopper greeted, sending a wary look at Karen, who had guided the man to Mike’s room, “Can we talk?”
In this lie, Mike’s parents are unaware, and Mike broke up with Will for his own reasons. Mike took a breath to steady himself and spoke, fiddling with stuff on his desk, “Sure, chief.” He cleared his throat, “About what?”
His feigned nonchalance was clearly throwing Hopper, who probably expected Mike to instantly ask for help and to be brought back to his house, “Well,” The chief shifted on his feet, sending another glance at Karen, who finally let up.
“I’ll make tea.” She smiled but threw Mike a stern glare when Hopper turned away.
Mike shrunk a little, waiting until her footsteps disappeared, “What do you want?” He asked, tone sombre.
Hopper closed his bedroom door, “What happened?” He asked, “Is it your parents?”
Mike scoffed, “Is it so hard to believe that I ended it myself?” He asked, and Hopper hurled his scoff back at him.
“Yes.” He snapped, “You wouldn’t.”
“Yeah, well, surprise.” Mike tossed up his hands, “I broke up with Will because i-i-it was making me feel suffocated. It was too much.”
Hopper’s brows furrowed, and Mike’s eyes watered, “He was too much.”
Hopper glared, scanning every inch of Mike’s face, but he didn’t seem to find what he was looking for. Mike could do a lot of things for Will. He would do anything.
He’d lose everything for him too.
“I thought you were better than this,” Hopper grumbled, leaving the door open on his way out.
Mike waited until the front door shut to yell, tears raining down his face as he swept everything off of his desk in a fit of despair.
━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━
The next month was nothing short of hell. He spent his lunches supervised by a teacher or locked in his room. He ran from his friends until they stopped seeking him out, until their worried stares became disdain and betrayal. Mike spent his Sundays chained to church, hearing bible verses used to scold him until he could repeat them in his sleep and until the word ‘sin’ echoed like the bang of a drum.
He was isolated and shrouded in darkness he couldn’t outrun. It followed him around like a shadow. Not even in the silence of his bedroom could he rest. His parents had stripped him of all of his comics and figurines, leaving bare walls and empty shelves.
Mike’s snapping point came abruptly. Glued to his chair at the kitchen table until he cleared his plate, his father switched the channel to the news and began muttering about queers. Mike shot up, brimming with fury, as he swiped the whiskey bottle off of the counter and marched out of the house, leaving his mother yelling for him to return.
He walked around for hours until the sun sank behind the horizon. Until he stopped at a desolate, heartbreakingly familiar set of swings and collapsed on a seat, drowning himself in alcohol.
That’s where Will found him an hour later. Karen had folded and called Hopper, asking in Mike was there. When she found out she wasn’t with the Byers or any of their friends, she panicked, and Hopper sent out officers to search.
But it was Will who found him, eyes hooded and hands shaking, where he cradled the alcohol to his chest like a teddy bear.
“Hey.”
Mike perked up, and Will drew back at his bloodshot eyes and deep, dark eyebags, “Will!” Mike gasped, nearly falling backwards off of the swing, “Will! Will!”
He kept chanting the name like it was gold. Will kneeled in front of him, “Hey,” He whispered, lifting a hand to Mike’s sunken, red cheeks, warm with intoxication, “Hey, what are you doing here?”
Mike’s skin against his felt like a healing balm and a burning acid all at the same time, and he held him steady as he swayed drunkenly, “M’ just…” Mike licked his lips and frowned at the bitter taste of whiskey before his fluttering eyes loosely focused on Will again, “Will…”
His voice was amazed, and Will felt tears sting at Mike’s state, “What are you doing here?” He repeated.
Mike leaned into Will’s touch, pouting tiredly, “M’ missed you…” He slurred, “I… miss you.”
Tears fell, landing on Will’s fingers as he swiped his thumbs over Mike’s face, “I miss you too.” He whispered, his voice cracking, “Mike… e-even if you- you d-don’t love me, we can still be friends. You don’t have to isolate yourself.”
Mike whined, his face falling suddenly. He shook his head, “Can’t,” He grumbled, “Can’t- for you. Protect you.”
Will furrowed his eyebrows and took the whiskey away even as Mike tugged weakly for it back, “What are you protecting me from?”
Mike sniffled as more tears dripped down, “No.” He hiccuped and pulled himself into an ungraceful and unsteady stand, “No.”
Will’s hands came around his waist to support him, but the touch made Mike’s knees wobble, and he stumbled into Will’s embrace. The two boys found themselves clinging to each other like their lives depended on it, feeling some semblance of completeness for the first time in a month.
“Mike, talk to me.” Will begged, pushing Mike backwards to see his face, “Please.”
Mike shook his head, leaning his weight on Will as his head spun, “No.” He whispered, “I can’t- can’t- I can’t-”
Will held his face with one hand like his head would drop, “Shhh…” He cut him off, “It’s okay.”
He looked into Mike’s desperately despaired eyes, finding tears looking back at him and felt his already broken heart rip a little more, “It’s okay.”
Mike shook his head no, whimpers crackling in the back of his throat as he tried to shimmy out of Will’s grip, but it was unrelenting, and he wound up with his back to the swing’s frame, “Mike,” Will begged, “Please talk to me.”
Mike kept refusing, kept trying to push Will away until he was held in a tight hug again, “Will,” He sobbed, crumpling into his arms, “Will- Will-”
Will’s own tears started to rain. Mike was a mess, drunk, and crying, and Will felt his soul calling for him. He cupped Mike’s face, forcing the other boy to face him, “Mike,” He ended the painful chanting, wrapping his arms around Mike’s body when his knees wobbled harder, but his touch worsened the shivers. Like a man finding a drop of water in a desert, Mike surged forward, clawing for every drop he could get.
Their lips met in a clumsy tangle. Mike’s arms wrapped around Will’s neck, relying on him for support, and Will pressed him further into the swings, holding him close as if he’d evaporate if he let go.
They parted for a moment. Mike gasped for air, shaking apart, trembling so hard he could barely hold himself up. A chain of tearful whimpers rattled out of him, and he opened his mouth to speak but Will cut him off with another kiss, one that took his breath and the last of his strength. It turned his legs to jelly, stirring his dizzy head until all he could feel was Will. His touch, his lavender soap, his warm breath. He was all consumed by the body pressed against his, the arms holding him like he was precious, something to be kept, something to be protected.
It felt like static was zapping his entire body, igniting his nerves inside from out, and when they parted again, Will caught him as his legs finally gave out, “Shit,” Will moved him to the swings, “Mike. You’re drunk.”
Mike, still covered by shivers and dazed from the kiss and the alcohol, hummed, “M’ drunk.” He agreed, breathing hard and reached for Will’s hands.
Will kneeled in front of him, wiping the tears from their eyes, “You love me,” He sniffled. He could see it, the undying love swirling in Mike’s gaze, “You didn’t leave me because you wanted to.”
A sob rippled from Mike’s lips, “That’s- I-”
“Don’t deny it!” Will snapped, pleading like he was praying to deities, “Please. Tell me what happened.”
Whether it was the intoxication or Will’s love, Mike finally broke into confessions, “I h-have to stay away,” He cried, “My p-parent’s know- they’ll tell if I- t-they’re going to make us move away…”
Will gasped and shot up, wrapping Mike in his arms and swearing to never make the mistake of letting him go again, “We’re going to fix it.” Will promised, despite the horror of it all, of the prospect of Mike being ripped away from him, “I promise. I’ll keep you safe.”
Mike had always protected him. Even now, at the cost of everything he had, Mike was keeping him safe by destroying himself.
It was Will’s turn to protect him.
━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━
By the time they had collected themselves enough, Mike’s consciousness was slipping, and he was growing heavier in Will’s arms. He struggled to keep his eyes open, trying so hard to resist, but Will’s embrace was so comforting, all he’d thought about for a month.
Helpless, Mike melted into his arms and Will let him, holding him tighter. He swayed side to side, rubbing Mike’s back and running his fingers through his hair until he was no longer stiff. Then he stuffed the whiskey jar into his backpack and moved Mike to carry it, “C’mon,” He whispered and manoeuvred Mike to lay on his back, pulling his arms to wrap around his neck and his legs around his waist.
Mike grumbled as Will picked him up in a piggyback, his head whirling, “Will…” He slurred weakly, “No… no-no. T-Take me home.”
But even as he pleaded to be let go, he shuffled closer, “I am.” Will whispered and turned his head so he could meet Mike’s eyes, who lay on his shoulder, “I am taking you home.”
Mike frowned suspiciously, face scrunched until Will stole a kiss, taking advantage of the desolate area while he could, “It’ll be okay, now.” Will whispered, “I promise.”
He carried Mike back to his house. By the time he got there, stars twinkled in the sky, and Mike was long gone, deep in a drunken slumber, drooling on his shoulder.
Will smiled so wide his cheekbones ached with it. He was terrified. Terrified he’d lose Mike again, and for good, but for a moment, the fear melted away, and he was left with just love. Just joy as Mike shuffled closer in his sleep, his nose in the nape of his neck, his soft breaths tickling Will’s skin.
Arriving at the front door, Will kicked it with enough strength to shake the walls. He cast a wincing glance at Mike, but he was drunkenly knocked out. He didn’t so much as twitch at the loud banging.
Will jumped a little, readjusting Mike to lean further onto him, “Mom!” He yelled, kicking the door seconds later, “Mom!”
Jonathan swung the door open, a confused and alarmed expression on his face at the bizarre scene, “What happened?” He questioned as Will pushed past him, laying Mike down on the sofa with such careful delicacy it made his heart hurt a little, watching his younger brother brush the hair from Mike’s eyes and pull a blanket over him.
Will sighed, swiping his thumb over Mike’s dark eyebags and inflamed lids and clenched his jaw, “I’m going to need a fucking alibi.”
━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━
Mike slept for a solid fourteen hours. Mind soaked in alcohol, he was so exhausted, drained to his bones, and honestly, the Byers were grateful he was conked out because the events during his nap were a shit show.
It started with a retelling from Will as he took the role of a mattress , holding Mike tight. It was followed by a yelling match between Hopper, Ted, and Karen; which ensued a potential charge of assault and battery from Karen to Joyce and ended with Hopper threatening to open a can of worms Karen would do anything to keep hidden.
Imagine if the town found out she, a married woman, slept with an eighteen-year-old who soon died.
Sure, she may not have gone through with it, but that wouldn’t matter.
When Mike eventually stirred, tucked like a baby into Will’s bed and snug in one of Will’s pyjama sets, he frowned to see his belongings scattered around Will’s room.
At his shuffling, Will turned from where he sat at his desk, a pencil in hand and his sketchbook out, “Good morning, sunshine.” He chuckled, mercifully turning off the lamp.
Mike gurgled some nonsense and wiped his eyes, “Wh’t happen’d?” He slurred, smacking his lips together and cringing at the taste.
Will snickered, sitting beside Mike and handing him a glass of water, “It’s all okay now.” He grinned, “Hopper took care of it. Your parents won't be moving, taking you away, or telling anybody about us. Turns out they have some secrets of their own, but Hopper won’t tell me what they are.”
Mike was silent for a while, his mind reeling. He had been in survival mode since his parent's threats a month ago, but slowly, his shoulders untensed, and he leaned closer into Will’s side, “I-It’s… I-It’s really over?” He whispered, voice cracking with vulnerability, “We’re okay?”
Will’s eyes watered, his heart aching, “It’s over.” He promised, pressing a kiss to Mike’s forehead, who sobbed softly and curled himself into the cocoon that Will’s embrace formed, “Now,” Will sniffled.
“I believe we are late for our Ghostbusters date.”