Chapter Text
-Will-
“Hey, do you want to be friends?”
Will turns to the other set of swings and notices another little boy who looked just as lonely as he did. He was a little shorter than Will and had a mess of curly black hair; unlike Will’s straight light brown hair that was stuck in the shape of a bowl cut, thanks to his mother's hair-cutting skills. The other boy looked nervously back at Will, fiddling with the chain links on the swing with a bright smile on his face that seemed to almost light the world. At least Will’s world because all Will could think was that this must be his angel.
“Yes.”
God, Will wishes that he didn't say yes to Mike that day because maybe he wouldn't be stuck in the situation that he is in right now.
Over time the unthinkable happened, because of course he had to develop feelings for Mike Wheeler, very deep feelings. Feelings that boys should definitely not have for other boys much less than their best friend. Feelings that consumed his thoughts every hour of the day and made his stomach fill with butterflies.
Sadly, these overwhelming feelings were obviously not reciprocated and have been made very clear to Will throughout the years. This never stopped Will’s heart for still yearning for his best friend even when Mike started dating El back in middle school. It still continued and festered even when he was thousands of miles away in California. He couldn’t help but still long for Mike and would anxiously wait for a phone call or letter from him like some hopeless foul.
Now back in Hawkins, Will can’t seem to get a hold of his heart and move on from Mike. He felt pathetic for letting his feelings consume him like this while the world was on the verge of ending and knew he had to put a stop to this.
Will has had enough of this suffering. This was it. This was going to be the year that Will Byers got over Mike Wheeler.
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Will was currently in English zoning out while the teacher was droning on and on about some symbolism in the colors of the book they were analyzing. Honestly, Will couldn’t care less about school; with evil interdimensional demons out to torture him and kill his friends and family, school hasn’t been in the forefront of his mind.
Instead, Will starts sketching on what is supposed to be his math homework while he continues to zone out whatever symbolism nonsense his teacher was rambling on about. His thoughts begin to wonder as he mindlessly starts sketching out a facial structure he knows all too well. His fingers know exactly how to curve and drag the pencil to give him the precise shapes he wants as if it was ingrained in him. He draws a sharp jawline and a slim nose on the paper effortlessly and is almost done completing the silhouette. He then starts drawing the dark curly locks and the faintest of eyelashes before he has to stop himself and look at what, or who, he is drawing.
“God damn it”, Will whispers to himself once he realizes that he has been drawing Mike’s face this whole without realizing it. It was an old habit Will picked up when he was young and didn't fully understand why he liked drawing Mike so much, and you know what they say, old habits die hard.
Speaking of old habitats, Will has been fighting a lot of them recently. As a part of his plan to get over Mike, Will has been distancing himself from his best friend. He switched seats in the classes they sat together in, blaming the sudden move on wanting to be closer to the windows or needing to be closer to the board. When he is at the Wheeler’s house, which his whole family minus El resides since Hawkins split into four, he makes up some excuse to go to bed early almost every night and dodges any alone time with Mike. He hates himself for doing this to his so-called best friend but he can't keep living his life in constant heartbreak.
Will aggressively erased the mini portrait he made of Mike but despite his best efforts there is still a faint outline of Mike’s face staring at him. As if it was almost mocking him for trying to think erasing his feelings for Mike would be this easy. God he really was hopeless. Thankfully, the school bell rang, putting a brief pause on Will’s self-pity spiral.
Great, lunch time. Will thought unenthusiastically as he gathered his supplies and hurriedly crumpled up his math homework that was tainted with Will’s drawing and threw it away.
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Will walks out into the hallway and smiles when he sees Dustin and Lucas waving at him.
“Hey Will!” Dustin shouts out, “You gotta hear this crazy campaign I am cooking up. It's right up your alley man.” Will's face brightens up at the mention of Dustin D&D campaign. He still loved playing the game with his friends despite the complicated feelings he has attached to it and his unrequited love.
“You coming to lunch, Byers?” Lucas asks, giving him a look in his eyes like an all-knowing mother.
The bad thing about avoiding Mike is that he is also avoiding the rest of the party as well. Will has been ditching lunch the past three days to go run off to smoke weed in the woods nearby. He knows he’s being a shitty friend to Lucas and Dustin, who frankly don't deserve any of it, but being near Mike is just too much and doesn’t help the fire in his heart simmer down. Plus Jonathan was right, purple palm tree delight does make your troubles float away.
“Ah, sorry no not today. I am feeling a bit nauseous so I am gonna go to the nurses office instead.” Will says while biting his lip to try to hide the fact that he is lying to some of his closest friends.
“I can go with you to the nurse.” Mike says as he joins the rest of the party out in the hallway. Mike is right behind Will almost close enough that he can feel Mike’s subtle breath on the back of his neck. He can feel his heart beat start to pick up its pace and his hands are starting to get clammy. Will is surprised by the sudden appearance of his best friend and turns around but quickly averts his eyes from Mike's. Not being able to lie to Mike while looking at him in the face was one of those old habits that Will couldn’t seem to shake off.
“Um, I’ll be ok. It's not that big of a deal…..plus Dustin has a really cool campaign he wants to tell you guys about” Will says as he actively backs away from the conversation and puts more space between him and Mike.
“But I wanted to tell you about it Will!” Dustin shouts out into the hallway but Will is already a couple of paces ahead of them, disappearing in the thick crowd of highschoolers.
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On his way back from the woods, Will spots Lucas taking a break from practice outside the gymnasium. Will tries to swiftly and silently dodge Lucas’ attention before he notices that he is even here but Will accidently steps on an extra crunchy leaf, completely ruining his almost silent escape.
“Ah Will, Perfect! Just the guy I was looking for.” Lucas says, snapping his head up into Will’s direction. Lucas is leaning against the gym walls dripping in sweat and has his hands on his knees. He then chugs the rest of his gatorade and quickly swipes the sweat off his forehead with his practice jersey before continuing. “Are you feeling any better?”
“Huh, what are you talking about?” Will says with a confused expression across his face. He is still a little hazy from the light smoke sesh he did 30 minutes ago in the woods and was still coming down from his high.
“Uh, you said you were nauseous and went to the nurse for lunch.” Lucas says with a little concern in his voice while lifting his eyebrows.
“OH, right the nurses office! Yeah she gave me some medicine and I am feeling so much better,” Will says enthusiastically to ease Lucas of any concerns, barely remembering what lie he told his friends today.
“Ok….anyways, here is your ticket for my game tonight. You are still able to come, right? It's the last game of the season.” Lucas says while handing Will a little yellow piece of paper that reads Admit One.
“Yeah of course I’ll go, I wouldn't miss it for the world.” Will says smiling at Lucas to give him reassurance.
Damnit, I forgot today was Thursday. Will shames himself for being so self-absorbed with his own problems that he forgot today was Lucas’ basketball game. He has been able to miss the last couple of games without raising too much concern from the party, choosing to smoke weed and wallow in his heart-broken pain instead. I really got to stop smoking all the time.
“Great, can't wait to see you there!” Lucas says and runs back into the gym to continue practicing.
Yeah, great. Will doesn’t know how he's going to survive an entire game next to Mike but he already promised Lucas he will be there. It's just one game. How bad can it possibly be?
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BUZZZZZ
The buzzer rings over the cheering crowd of supporters made up of teenagers and parents. The Hawkins Tigers have just called a time out and they are neck and neck with the opposing team with only one quarter left of the game.
Will is watching as best as he can while trying to listen to the campaign Dustin so badly wanted to tell him about during lunch. However, it is all going in one ear and out the other because all he can think about is how Mike hasn’t said a single word to him, but has been staring at him off to the side during the whole game.
“-and just when you think the heroes have won and defeated the evil cult….BAMM….its revealed that they actually lost and are all prisoners inside of the cult leaders mind!” Dustin says while throwing up his arms in dramatics. “So what do you think about it so far?” he asks, now out of breath.
“Huh, oh it sounds really cool, I can't wait to play it.” Will says, snapping back into reality and he tries to focus on what Dustin was telling him.
“Wouldn’t that make the last battle and the overall conclusion kind of pointless if it was all just fake and everyone is trapped in a false reality? Sounds like a shitty ending to me,” Mike says out of nowhere, turning his attention to Will and Dustin.
“Well, Will likes it and I don't see you coming up with any better ideas.” Dustin says begrudgingly while flicking Mike off.
Will laughs as they continue to argue about the campaign’s ending because it reminds him of how passionately the two would fight about the plotholes in each other's D&D campaigns when they were younger. Mike would get so heated that his face would turn a beet red and he would storm off to go sulk in a corner. Will was always the one that had to calm him down by telling Mike that his campaigns were really cool and far better than Dustin’s. Will misses those simpler times before everything got so confusing with the upside down and with himself.
Will stops laughing and notices the way Mike is staring at him with this look in his eyes that Will can never seem to decipher. They hold eye contact a couple seconds longer than they should but Will can’t look away.
BUZZZZ
The timeout ends and Will snaps his attention back to the game and breaks eye contact with Mike. What was that all about? He tries to ignore the weird look in Mike’s eye and the gnawing feeling it has created inside of him.
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There is less than a minute left on the clock and the Hawkins Tigers are one point away from winning the game. Lucas currently has the ball and is swiftly making his way across the court while dodging the opposing team. With ten seconds left, Lucas shoots the ball towards the basket where it dances around the rim before sinking down, securing the win for Hawkins High.
BUZZZZ
“AND THE HAWKIN TIGERS HAVE DONE IT. THEY HAVE WON THE GAME 64-59 WITH LUCAS SINCLAIR SCORING THE WINNING POINT!”
The announcers practically scream the win for Hawkins High as everyone in the crowd jumps up to celebrate. The rest of the basketball team raises Lucas up on their shoulders shouting “LUCAS, LUCAS, LUCAS, LUCAS!” and carry him off to the locker room.
Will feels a burst of excitement for his friend’s win and is glad that he was here to see it happen. Dustin is bouncing off the walls at Lucas' epic game winning point and Mike is yelling at him to be careful, saying that he's gonna bust his ass if he keeps jumping like that.
The three boys move down from the bleachers and head to the locker room to go congratulate Lucas on his win. However, the closer the trio get to the locker room the harder it is for them to move. The crowd in front of the locker room is too dense for all three of them to go in no matter how hard Dustin tries to push in.
“Damnit, I can't get past these assholes.” Dustin says annoyed and defeated. He tries to smuggle his way past a group of cheerleaders one more time but their pom-poms block the way. Will and Mike just watch in amusement at their friend’s futile attempts. Finally deciding to give up, Dustin turns his attention towards Will and says, “Will you're the smallest so wiggle your way in there and go find Lucas.”
“Fine, but you owe me a comic if I get trappled on my way there.” Will says jokingly as he departs from Mike and Dustin and heads towards the thick crowd of people.
Even though he was the smallest of the group, that did not make going through the crowd any less easier. He, thankfully, doesn’t get trampled but can feel himself getting jostled around in the dense crowd of supporters and sweaty basketball players. Will doesn’t even remember how many excuse me’s and pardon me’s he's said before he fully bumps his face into someone's chest.
“Woah careful there” the person he crashes into says as he holds Will still in his arms.
“Oh sorry I wasn't looking where I was going” Will says as he looks up to see who he bumped into. It was another guy on the basketball team that Will vaguely remembers seeing during the game. He was tall with black wavy hair and tan brown skin that complement the green in his uniform.
“It’s alright if it leads you to me.” mystery basketball player says to Will and gives him a charming, award winning smile.
Will is stunned by the comment and notices how this guy has such cute dimples when he smiles. His teeth look perfect as if he was in a dentist commercial and has this twinkle in his eyes that Will thought was only possibly in comics. His hair swoops off to the side in a way that reminds him of those men on the cover of the romance novels Mrs. Wheeler likes to read. He also can’t help to notice how beautifully sculpted his muscled arms look in his jersey and how firmly his hands are holding Will. Now I get why Max likes Lucas in his uniform so much. Will then realize that he hasn't said anything in awhile and has just been checking this guy out the whole time.
“Ah sorry, I’ll get out of your way now” Will says trying to break away from this gorgeous basketball player’s trance. Instead, the mystery guy holds him with a slightly tighter, firmer grip.
“I think I have seen you before. You are one of Sinclair’s friends right?” the way too gorgeous player asks.
“Yeah I am one of Lucas’ friends. You’ve probably seen me at lunch with him. My name is Will Byers by the way” Will says smiling, trying to be polite.
“I knew I couldn’t forget a face as cute as yours. My name is Chance. It is a pleasure to finally meet you Will,” Chance says while letting go of Will and extending a hand out. He shakes Will’s hand firmly and holds on a lot longer than Will expects him too. Chance’s thumb softly rubs his hand before releasing the handshake.
Oh my god. Is this guy flirting with me? Will face blushes at the possibility that someone might be interested in him. What should I do? I have never been flirted with before. Wait, is Chance even gay? What if he is not and I am overthinking things and I gross him out by doing the wrong thing. Will’s internal panicking stops when he hears Chance clear his throat.
“So there's going to be this party tonight around nine to celebrate the season ending. Should I expect to see you there?” Chance says with a slight tinge of blush appearing on his face.
Will blushes harder and is about to respond when he hears….
“Yeah we will be there” Mike says and makes sure to add an emphasis on the word we. Mike is now standing behind Will, hovering over him like a bodyguard with Mike’s towering height. Mike isn’t as tall as Chance but they both look like giants from Will’s perspective.
“There you are Will. Dustin found Lucas already and they are waiting outside in the parking lot for us. Are you ready to go?” Mike says while grabbing Will’s arm and shooting Chance an annoyed, skeptical look.
Will can feel his skin buzz where Mike is touching him but tries to distract himself from the sensation. Mike is already tugging him away from Chance but that doesn’t stop him from responding to the other boy’s question.
“Yeah I’ll be there,” Will says to Chance before he is hauled away by Mike’s grasps on him.
“I’ll be waiting Byers” Chance says and gives Will a quick wink goodbye. Mike’s grasp on Will tightens and he hears Mike mumble something under his breath.
“What?” Will asks Mike while he is pushing them through the slowly dispersing crowd.
“You shouldn’t be talking to guys like him” Mike says sternly with a hint of something else that Will can’t put his finger on. Will halts his movement and breaks free from Mike's grasp. Both he and Mike are staring at each other now.
“Excuse me?” Will says angrily. “Whats so wrong with Chance that I can’t talk to him?” Will’s arms are now crossed, fully in defense mode.
“I’m not saying you can’t talk to him. I am just saying that Chance is a mouth breather who doesn’t have a good track record. He’s a bad influence and you shouldn’t waste your time talking to him,” Mike says with an almost pleading look in his face. Will can feel his blood starting to boil over Mike's ridiculous and unwarranted comments on Chance.
“Well I don’t remember asking for your opinion and just a reminder you don’t get to tell me who I can or can’t talk to. I’m not a weak little kid that needs your protection,” Will says while poking a finger in the middle of Mike’s chest.
“Will no, that's not what I’m sa-” Mike starts but is quickly cut off.
“Now can you please mind your business so we can go find our friend who we are supposed to be celebrating right now," Will says storming off past Mike and moving to the exit of the gymnasium.
Why the hell does Mike care so much about who I talk to?
Will finally spots the rest of his friends and makes his way to them. He congratulates Lucas on his win with a giant hug before the rest of them make their way to the half-empty parking lot. The four boys all huddle together in Mrs. Wheeler’s car with Mike driving and Will in the passenger seat. Dustin and Lucas are blabbering on about the highlights of the game but Will stares off into the passenger window, refusing to give Mike anymore of his attention.
Screw Mike and screw his stupid overprotectiveness.
Will didn’t understand what Mike’s problem was but he refused to let himself care any further. He was going to get over Mike one way or another and Chance seemed like the perfect opportunity to do so.
He really couldn’t wait for this party to get here sooner.
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