Archive of Our Own

“I’m gay”

Those 2 words sucked all the noise of the room, making it an agonizing silence longing between the two boys. It wasn’t the first time Will had said those words out loud but, this time he felt a lot more nervous. Probably because it was his opinion that he valued the most.

The first person he ever came out to was his mother. He and his mother were always really close. He knew she wouldn’t be mad but it stayed tough to admit. He then planed on coming out to his brother, Jonathan, but didn’t have to. Jonathan had made it pretty clear in the past that he was aware of his attraction to boys and was okay with it. Will knew he knew, and that was good enough.

He wanted so bad to tell his sister as well. They had grown really close and were almost inseparable. And this part of him he wasn’t sharing with her started to create a gap. El was somehow aware of it but also of the fact that Will wasn’t ready to explain why, and she respected that.  But it felt wrong to come out to her before him.

Him being Mike Wheeler, of course. His best friend. The person he told everything, maybe more than to his own mother. Mike, the one boy who was always by his side, the boy who stood up for him, the boy who was always there when Will needed comfort. Mike Wheeler, the boy who he was madly in love with.

So yes, coming out to Mike was difficult.

They stayed silent for a couple of second, Mike lying on his belly on Will’s bed, him sitting legs crossed a foot away from him; and right before Will started to regret his confession Mike spoke.

“Okay”

Will looked up to meet his eyes. Mike almost looked emotionless; like Will had just asked something as mundane as if he wanted mustard or ketchup on his hotdog. “You- you’re not mad?” Will stopped pulling the tiny part of skin near his fingertips.

“Mad? Will, why would I be mad?” Mike sat up, ruffling the paper sheets next to him. He gave Will a reassuring smile.

“I don’t know, some people would find me disgusting if they knew and I don’t know I-”

“Yeah, but I don’t. To me you’re still the same” He smiled and put his hand on his best friend’s. “It doesn’t matter who makes you feel fuzzy. Boys, girls who cares right?” Will wasn’t expecting that kind of reaction. He had hoped with all his heart that Mike would be accepting but his speech was weirdly open minded, too open minded.

“Are you…” He couldn’t be but Will had to be sure. “Into boys as well?” He finally found the courage to ask.

“Who me? No.” Mike said shaking his head. He didn’t sound offended. He even smiled. “Why? Are you interested?” Mike teased Will, oblivious that the answer was a big fat yes.

“N-no! It’s just you seem so chill about it, sorry”

“No it’s cool” He casually said.

“Cool” Will repeated.

“Anyway, what’d you got for question 5?” Mike simply went back to their homework as if that conversation meant nothing, or never even happened.

“Um, 25”

“Shit I got 56”

Years passed but Will’s crush didn’t, it was slowly turning into something more intense. Back in 10^th grade, he tried dating a boy he met at the arcade to get over his best friend. It didn’t work. Will didn’t date anyone else after that. Mike on the other hand, had become quite the womanizer. Will couldn’t blame him; he went from a soft cute child to the hottest boy in the whole school.

So yes, Mike dated a lot. Always coming back to Will at the end of the day, saying that he’ll never find the one. Will’s heart sank when, one day, Mike mentioned that he’d need someone like Will. And of course both of them acted like Mike had never said that. It took a couple of other months for Will to inform the rest of the party that he liked boys. Everyone was accepting and supportive.

***

“Would you date me?” Mike asked out of the blue. Will who was inconveniently drinking at the same time choked a little on his drink.

“Excuse me?” Will managed to say after catching his breath. He placed his glass on the coffee table.

“I mean hypothetically would you?” Mike still had that serene expression when evoking that kind of subject, compared to Will whose head was always on the verge of exploding.

How was he supposed to answer that? Saying yes would mean hinting his attraction towards the boy, too close to the truth, saying yes meant danger. But saying no would mean lying and risking to hurt Mike’s feeling.

“I mean yeah” Will said after almost a minute of reflection which might have been worse than answering right away.

“Cool… because there’s this wedding I need to attend and I was hopping you’d be my date” Mike saw Will’s confused expression and clarified his proposition. “like pretend to be my boyfriend?” Will couldn’t believe what was happening. His heart was going full speed at this point.

“I mean yeah but wouldn’t it be easier to find a girl? Also more believable” Will tried to reason Mike but more importantly, himself.

“Well maybe I’m into boys as well as girls” Whatever was going on inside Will’s mind seconds ago got deleted by this one sentence. “I mean Johnny Depp’s pretty hot but so is Phoebe Cates, you know what I mean?”

“Not really but-”

“And I mean it’s not like I’ve never… you know” Will’s mind was a total blank at this point, still not processing the idea that Mike could like boys the same way he did.

“I really don’t” Will said.

“All I’m saying is that there is not much differences between kissing a boy and kissing a girl” Mike said and that was what broke the glass wall Wil was hiding behind. The wall that would hold the informations from going to Will’s brain. He stayed silent for a moment still in shock, but tried his best to keep a straight face.

“I guess, although there are differences” Will added.

“Oh yeah I know” Mike said, a little bit, too confidently. If Will was shocked before he now had lost the ability to function. Body frozen, his brain overheating as he tried to connect the dots. And the conclusion he came to kind of scared him for some reason.

“Wait, just so we’re clear. Are you telling me you’ve had sex with a boy?” Will didn’t know if he wanted the answer but his mouth was faster than his brain.

“Not all the way but, yeah pretty much I guess” Mike said nonchalantly. “So what do you say?” Mike changed the subject, looked at him right in the eyes.

“Sure,” Was all Will could say. “When is it?”

“Next week, 21^st of July” Mike said.

“Okay, do I need to wear anything in particular?” Will had never been to a wedding.

“No, just a button up shirt I guess. You don’t have to go full tuxedo, unless you want to” Mike said.

Will went home that day looking for an appropriate outfit. He looked through his clothes but he found nothing he liked. He thought of asking his mother but went to look through Jonathan’s old clothes. He had left for college a couple of years ago but some of his stuff were still around.

“Hey buddy, what are you doing?” Will jumped not expecting anyone home. He turned around and saw his brother, leaning on the doorframe of the room.

“Jonathan! I didn’t know you were coming back for summer break!” Will said going for a hug.

“I told mom on the phone a couple of days ago. Didn’t she tell you?” He hugged his brother back.

“I guess not... El’s at Max’s but I can call if you w-”

“No no, don’t worry I’m staying so I’ll see her later”

“Okay” Will said enthusiastically. He had missed his brother.  Jonathan looked over Will’s shoulder and noticed the box of clothes on the floor.

“What’s all this?” He asked, his head nodding towards the box. Will turned around.

“Oh um, I’m looking for a button up shirt, a nice one” Will replied.

“Why? Do you have a date?” Jonathan smiled and lifting his eyebrows up. Will blushed.

“Oh no! Just going to a wedding” He explained, although his brother looked even more confused. “Mike asked me to be his date for one of his relative’s wedding” He quickly regretted his choice of words seeing the facial expression of his brother. “Don’t give me that look it’s, it’s not like that. He asked me to be his fake boyfriend.”

“Fake boyfriend? That’s pretty odd… why not just ask you to come as a friend?” Jonathan asked really confused. Will frowned. Somehow, in his state of ethereal panic when Mike asked him, he didn’t realize how weird it was.

“I-I don’t know…” Will looked down feeling like an idiot for still being in love with the same person for almost 10 years and them not reciprocating the feelings.

“I’m sorry” Jonathan put his hand on Will’s shoulder giving him a pitiful look. He knew. “Come on let’s find you the most stunning shirt we can!”

***

On the 21^st the Wheelers came to pick up Will. Nancy couldn’t make it, which was why they only took one car. Mike got out of the car and walked to the Byers-Hoppers’ front door. Will opened the door to see Mike who was wearing black tuxedo pants, a light blue, almost white, shirt with a loosened navy tie. Will was wearing dark grey pants, his shirt was white with a red tie around the collar, and a dark grey vest matching his pants. He held his tuxedo jacket in his hands.

Will didn’t have time to greet Mike because as soon as the door was open and he was reachable, Mike slid his hand on Will’s wait bringing him closer. He leaned in and kissed Will right on the lips. Taken aback Will almost dropped his jacket on the floor. The kiss lasted about five seconds. Will couldn’t bring himself to close his eyes like Mike did.

“Why did you do that?” Will asked, eyes so wide.

“We’re supposed to pretend to be boyfriends, might as well act like real ones” Mike explained. “You look great by the way” Mike said before taking his hand and leading him to the car. Will forgot to thank him as worry started to take over his shock.

“What about your parents?” Will asked.

“They’re cool with it” He said climbing in the vehicle. Will following him and sat next to him as he greeted everyone.

“Hello kid” “Hi Will!” “Hello honey” All of the other Wheelers said at the same time. “Come on boys buckle up we’re a bit late” Karen said.

Will was a bit surprised by the fact that no one was bothered by the fact that Will was dating Mike. Mike explained, that he himself had thought his father would’ve been angrier about it but he simply didn’t care, totally unaware of the fact that his parents knew that if their son had to date a boy it would’ve been Will.

A moment after they had started driving Will felt Mike’s hand slid in his. He gazed at their hands then at Mike’s face. He was smiling at him. Will took a deep breath then relaxed into the touch and even leaned onto Mike’s arm. If he was going to pretend to be his boyfriend, he was going to enjoy every second of it because as soon as this day ends so does this.

They drove for about forty minute and finally arrived at the venue. The biggest area was outside where all the chairs and tables were, for the reception, as well as a dance floor with a faux ceiling of fairy lights. The place was huge and beautiful. Everything looked expensive and screamed ‘we have money’. Will knew the Wheelers were wealthier than his family but even the extended family was rich.

They entered the room where the ceremony would take place. Still holding hands Mike and Will followed Karen leading the way to the 5^th row. They all sat down but Will felt nauseous all of a sudden. He felt stares on him and Mike and whispers here and there.

At first he thought that he was being paranoid, when they stood up for the bride’s entrance he met disgusted faces looking at them.

“Um... Mike?” Will tugged at his sleeve.

“Yeah?” Mike looked at Will giving him all his attention.

“Is your family homophobic?” Will asked the question that was bothering him as soon as he sat down on the white velvet chair.

“Uh yeah, some of them, why?” Mike said eyes wandering around the room.

“And you didn’t tell me?!” Will scream-whispered.

“Didn’t I mention it?”

“No you didn’t!!!” Mike didn’t understand why Will was so mad.

“Well, that’s kinda why I wanted you to come, so I could piss them off. My uncle’s a homophobic asshole so I thought I’d piss him off if I had a boyfriend.” Mike said calmly.

Will’s heart stopped. His shoulders dropped and he felt something in his stomach. His guts getting heavy. Was it the only reason? It would explain the ‘fake boyfriend’ thing… Will thought.

“Hey what’s going on?” Mike noticed Will’s sudden change of mood. He approached him, looking at his face closely trying to figure out the reason his best friend looked so down.

“Mike we could get hurt…” Will said and yes it wasn’t the main reason he felt sad but it was a big concern of his at this moment.

“Will look at me” Mike said lifting Will’s chin using his hand. “I will never let anything happen to you, you understand? Never” Mike said so seriously and with such sincerity in his voice. Will looked at him and saw the boy he fell in love with, and all his worry vanished.

 “Okay” Will said nodding and smiling.

After the ceremony all the guests were invited to go eat the meal followed by the party that started right after the now married couple’s first dance together. The whispering and weird looks continued but Mike did everything he could to distract his boyfriend, and that meant kiss him by surprise, asking for, no, drag him to the dancefloor to swing to the music.

Will had seem to be distracted enough to forget all about it. Until one of Mike’s cousin, he assumed, went up to them.

“Hey Michael! I didn’t know you were a fairy?” He said supported by his friend’s laugh behind. Will let go of Mike and took a step away from him. Mike instantly put himself in front of Will, protecting him.

“Do you have a problem George?” Mike almost spat out.

“Yes actually. I don’t want faggots at brother’s wedding” He walked closer to them.

“Take that back!” Mike shouted over the music.

“No, you see I’m quite surprised. You don’t look queer” He said poking at Mike’s shoulder’s multiple times. Then pointed at Will. “Him on the oth-” Mike’s fist interrupting his cousin’s mouth.

It happened so fast that Will didn’t registered the action until he saw the man on the floor, lip bruised and already bleeding. He got back to his feet and punched back. Will was petrified and felt powerless. He watched the scene screaming in his head for them to stop.

His voice finally coming out when his eyes fell on Mike’s bleeding lips and red cheek. “Mike!” The fight didn’t go any further as people went to separate them. Will threw himself at Mike. He took his face between his hands.

“Are you okay?” He asked voice shaking, translating his worry.

“Sure! Never been better” Mike tried to lighten the situation with a joke that did not make Will laugh. Karen arrived near them and brought them in the kitchen of the venue to get some ice.

***

“Ouch” Mike winced as Will placed the ice patch against his cheek. Mike was sat on a counter, Will standing between his legs. They were no stranger to proximity and closeness, but this night, it became so natural for them, as if they were magnets.

“Sorry” Will said mimicking the boy’s facial expression.

“It’s okay” Mike said placing his hand on top of Will’s. They stared at each other’s eyes for god knows how long. They leaned a little eyes going down towards lips. Hearts racing but abruptly stopped when a member of the staff passed by, making Will drop his hand and them break eye contact. They waited to be alone again before they started speaking again.  “Please don’t say it” Mike said.

“Say what?” Will asked.

“I told you so” Mike replied

“I told you so” Will did it anyway. Mike gave him a small smile. “You didn’t have to do that you know…” Will softly said.

“Do what?” Mike asked confused.

“Getting beat up just to defend me” Will looked down.

“Hey no! I couldn’t stand there listening to that asshole say those things about you, about us.” Mike placed the ice patch next to him and took, between his hands, Will’s face, who winced a little because of Mike’s frozen hand. His burning cheeks helping the hand getting warmer.

“Don’t ever do that again. Promise me.” Will looked so serious.

“No I can’t promise that, I told you I wouldn’t let anything happen to you and I meant it! You’re so important to me okay!” His brain was so dazed from his swollen lips and bruised cheeks, pain radiating in his whole face, which was why he had let this information slipped out of his mouth. Even though they both knew it, hearing Mike say it out loud felt different.

“Mike you don’t understand, I got so scared when I saw him punch you I… please” Will’s eyes getting wet as his voice was shaky. Mike licked the blood on his lips, thinking.

“Okay”

“Promise.” Will held his pinky finger in front of them. Mike looked amused, it’s been so long since they pinky promised something. They used to do it all the time when they were kids. Mike locked their fingers together.

“I promise” His hand quickly moved to hold his entire hand instead of just his pinky. His other hand on the back of the smaller boy’s head, bringing it closer allowing Mike to kiss his forehead. He stayed like this for some time, Will felt his whole body melt. He wiped off the blood stain after his lips left Will’s skin.

He looked around them, checking if anybody could see them, and no, no one was looking. He looked up and saw a bloody smile.

“You can stop pretending, no one’s looking” He took a wet cloth and gently rubbed the blood off Mike’s lips, which was useless as it was still bleeding a little.

“I’m not pretending” Mike said, putting Will’s hair behind his ear. The light touch made Will so weak. His heart was pounding in his chest; it was almost painful. He couldn’t take it anymore.

“Please stop, I’m begging you” Will desperately said avoiding eye contact.

“Stop what?” Mike got worried for half a second.

“Making me feel like this” He said. What do you mean? Was what Will could read on Mike’s face when he finally decided to raise his head. “Like I have a chance, like you could actually love me back”

“Back?” It was Mike’s voice’s turn to shake.

“Yeah Mike. I’m in love with you, have been for years. I honestly don’t know how you never noticed because I’m so weak for you” Will admitted. He was expecting a shocked expression painted on Mike’s face but his eyes met the boy, beaming at him. Will’s eyes flutter out of confusion.

“Why are you smiling?” Will asked.

Will started to panic. Was Mike gonna laugh at his face because of how stupid he was to love someone who will never love him back? He regretted telling this, he regretted coming to the wedding, he regretted agreeing to all of this. He… He tasted blood on his lips.

In his panic state he didn’t notice Mike leaning in to kiss him. Will closed his eyes and they moved their lips together spreading the iron taste on Will’s tongue. Will wasn’t aware of it but his whole body was shaking lightly. The kiss was slightly painful for Mike who didn’t kiss him for too long. They parted but stayed close nonetheless.

“What was that for?” Will said finally coming back to reality.

“For loving me back” Mike said softly.

“B-back?” A glimmer of hope shined in Will’s eyes.

“Yeah I did actually notice you loved me. It just took me a long time to fall for you too, or rather realized I had already fallen” Mike took Will’s hands in his. Will felt like he was floating on a cloud, not even noticing when staff members passed by anymore.

“When did you realized that?” Will had a lot of questions but this one came out first.

“Last year” Mike said looking down. Will let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. A mix of anger, sadness, confusion but mostly frustration took over Will.

“So you knew I was in love with you for years, then realized you loved me back but did nothing for a whole year?” He exclaimed, raising his voice a little.

“Yeah but I actually thought your feelings were gone because you dated that boy and… there’s college approaching and I don’t know I-” Mike struggled to explain. Will listened and waited for Mike to be finished, then waited a little longer, installing a silence between them.

“Now what? What do we do?” Will asked rubbing his thumb on Mike’s knee.

“I don’t know…” He looked at Will whose eyes were stuck on his own thumb drawing circles on Mike’s pants. “What I do know is that I love you.”

“You do?” Will glanced up, finding Mike staring directly at him, smiling.

“Yes! Hell, Will, you’re the love of my life, always have been, always will be, even though the love wasn’t romantic at first it sure is now!” Mike said like it was the clearest thing in his life, because it was. The words made Will melt into Mike’s arms. They also felt like a breath of fresh hair, like Will had been waiting all his life to hear them, like he could finally breathe again.

His eyes sparkled. “So what do you say? You want to give this a shot?” Mike asked, looking at Will through his eyelashes.

“Yes!” Will almost didn’t let Mike finish his question. He crashed his lips against Mike’s, who winced and pulled back.

“Ouch” Mike went to touch his bleeding lip.

“Sorry” Will’s awkward smile grew wider when he felt Mike’s lips back on his own.