Archive of Our Own

“Shit,” Mike says, peering over the edge of the building. 

Will grins at him under the mask, moving to sit down beside him. Mike grabs onto his arm with a death grip, his knuckles pinched white. “You’re still scared of heights?” 

“It’s not the heights I’m afraid of, necessarily.” Mike clutches onto Will’s leg with his other hand, and he moves it on top of Mike’s leg, whose grasp on Will’s arm relaxes a touch. “It’s more the fall that scares me. Or really, when the fall stops.” 

“Stops because I’d catch you? Just like I have, every time?” 

Mike snorts. “Right. You couldn’t have chosen a shorter building?” 

Will shrugs. “This one has the best view.” It’s true, nothing has a better view than Empire State, especially at sunset. He turns to face outward, and the sky is pinkening, the clouds streaked with reds and oranges as the sun dips lower against the skyline, giving various buildings a subtle glow against their outlines. Some birds fly by, creating dark contrasts against the colorful sunlight. Will commits the scene to memory, and plans to paint this once they get home. His hand finds Mike’s, tangling their fingers together, and Will leans against his side.  

They watch the sunset as it slips behind the horizon, leaving behind purple and blue clouds across the sky as the city lights below spark to existence to make up for the loss of daylight. It’s calming. Will would always come here, or to whatever building was closest, to watch the sunset whenever he had the chance. It’s different to see the city from this view, to see thousands of people mill around below as the sun above slowly moves along. From so high up, the city is quieter, something that Will rarely gets to see. 

“You were right,” Mike says. 

“Mm?” 

“This is awesome. Totally worth it.” 

Will softly smiles at this. “You finally manned up and got over your fear?” he teases, with a light elbow to Mike’s side.  

“Hah. I’m still shaking.” 

Will wraps his arm around Mike’s side and squeezes his torso in a side hug. “You don’t think I’ve got you?” 

“I mean, I do, but there’s nothing in front of me. I could totally just, like, lean down and slip and fall to my death.”

Will wraps his other arm around the front of Mike, grasping his hands together to cage Mike in. He leans close to Mike’s face. “Is this better?”

“I could still break through your arms.” Mike slips his hand between Will’s arms and his side, trying to break apart Will’s hands, to no avail. He frowns.

“I have super strength, did you forget?” 

“Still not up to safety standards, in my opinion,” Mike says, twisting his mouth to try (and fail) to hide a smile.  

Will rolls his eyes. He pulls his leg up to rest on the other side of Mike, now straddling him, his knees digging into Mike’s side. “How about now?” he says sweetly. 

Mike’s eyes widen and his hands trace up Will’s body, squeezing at his waist and shoulders. “This’ll work.” 

Mike’s hands reach the seam of Will’s mask, and he slides it up past Will’s nose before pulling him in for a kiss. Will brings his hands up to Mike’s hair, tangling his fingers in the curls. Mike’s tongue swipes over Will’s bottom lip, and he opens his mouth. Will tugs at the hair in his hands, eliciting a noise from Mike, and Will grins against the kiss. Mike drags his hands down Will’s body, going to rest on his hips. He takes Will’s bottom lip between his teeth, gently nipping at the skin, and Will gasps into Mike’s mouth.  

He slips his gloved hand under Mike’s shirt, suddenly desperate to feel his skin against his. He presses closer to Mike, bringing their chests together. Mike brings his hands underneath Will’s thighs, moving further north. 

Will breaks apart the kiss to speak, both of them breathless by now. 

“Home?” Mike beats him to it. 

Will nods, pulling his mask down and helping Mike to his feet. He curls an arm around his waist while Mike wraps his arms around Will’s neck. Will gracefully leaps off the side of the building. Mike shrieks, although he’d certainly deny it if Will ever mentions it, closing his eyes and tucking his face into Will’s shoulder. Will shoots out a web onto a nearby building, swinging them back up and through the air. 

“Holy fuck!” Mike yells against Will, his fingers digging into his chest. 

“You’re so dramatic,” Will says back, although he’s not sure if Mike can hear him through the wind in their ears. 

They make it back to their apartment, and Will drops Mike onto the balcony, hopping down next to him and pulling off his mask. Mike stares at him for a second, catching his breath. “You did that on purpose,” he says, squinting at Will. 
       
Will purses his lips to hide a grin. “Did what?” 

Mike rolls his eyes. He then takes Will’s face between his palms and kisses him hard, already pressing his tongue against Will’s smile. Will’s back hits the slide door with a thud, and he fumbles with the latch behind his back, eventually shoving it open and pulling Mike inside with him, barely getting the door closed again before Mike starts pushing him toward his bedroom. 

Will’s the happiest he’s ever been. 

When he first moved to New York, he thought that might be the happiest he’d ever get, living in a big city with one of his best friends, working as a mostly-kind-of-ish freelance artist. He had started to truly live as himself to the fullest, started dating boys, which seemed almost normal in the city. Sure, it was still miles away from what straight people could do, but the contrast from Hawkins to here was staggering. He could go to a gay bar, because those existed here, and kiss another man, or be approached by one and get asked out, or even on occasion he could go home with one for the night (and if he hooked up with the son of a major CEO in the city once or twice, he’s not one to tell). He could style his hair differently, wear more unique clothes, even get his ear pierced. For the first time in his life, he felt truly free. 

Then he got bitten by a radioactive spider. 

Things have been different since that day, almost four years ago. Once again, he felt like he was completely different than everyone else, he wondered if there was anybody who would truly understand what he was going through, and wondered if anybody would even want to know him or speak to him if they knew about his abilities.

He decided, with all this pent up energy and emotion, to dip his toes into the world of superheroes. He’s always been familiar with superheroes, but Dustin was a superfan. So, he approached Dustin, told him about his situation, and together they created Spider-Man, a vigilante superhero by night, and a broke college student by day. 

It worked, for a little bit. His sister came out as a mutant, and their parents had a surprisingly normal reaction to it, which put Will at ease in regards to his own powers. 

Then, his best friend and ex (not really) embarrassingly huge crush re-entered his life. Was it a bad idea to let his best friend whom he’s been crushing on for as long as he can remember move in with him? Most definitely. 

But he did it anyway. 

And look, everything worked out in the end. The best part is, Mike isn’t just dating Will, but also Spider-Man. Will, for the second time in his life, feels completely and totally free. He’s madly in love with his boyfriend, who's madly in love with him and his secret alter ego. Things couldn’t be better. 

He’s walking down the street with his boyfriend, he loves that he can say that about Mike, when a man sprints out of a nearby store and takes off down the road, two large bags in his arms. The elderly shop owner runs out behind him, yelling and waving his hands to anybody who will listen. 

“Stop that man! Please!” 

As the man yells, Mike and Will glance at each other, then Will drags them into a nearby alley, pulling off his shirt to reveal his Spidey suit underneath. He kicks off his shoes, and Mike collects his clothes in his arms. 

“Web fluid?” 

“Just refilled them yesterday,” Will says, snapping on his webshooters. 

Mike nods. “Good.” 

Will pulls on his mask. “Stay close, I’ll be right back.” Will shoots out a web onto the side of the building. 

Mike kisses his cheek over the mask. “Go get ‘em, tiger.” 

Will glances at him with a tilt of his head, and Mike winces. “Tiger?” 

“I was gonna say spider, but that felt corny. And then tiger was the first thing to come to mind, but now it sounds even cornier.” 

Will snorts, then presses a “kiss” onto Mike’s cheek through the mask, vocalizing a Mwah sound. “You’re such a dork.” Will pulls himself up with the web, running along the side of the building. 

“I love you!” Mike calls out as Will jumps on top of the building. 

“I love you too!” Will shouts back, then starts running and leaping across the various buildings in front of him. 

He catches up to the burglar quickly, and sees him duck into an alleyway, where a car is idling, waiting for him. Will shoots out a web onto the guy’s hand as it reaches for the handle, and it’s immediately stuck. 

“What the hell?” The burglar yells, trying to pull his hand off. 

“What’s the matter?” The driver yells back, and the burglar puts his foot against the car, trying to get leverage to push his hand off. Will shoots out a web to his foot as well, and it also sticks.

The man, now hopping on one foot to try and keep balanced, starts cussing. “Shit, it’s one of them. The spider guy!” 

Will drops down beside him and plants a punch to his face. Not enough to make him bleed, but enough to make him stumble and lose focus. “You know, for the future, if you’re gonna rob someplace, don’t dress like a robber.” 

Will feels a buzzing in the back of his skull and he ducks as the driver, who must have snuck out while he wasn’t paying attention, swings his fist through the air. From his crouched position, Will spins around and plants a firm punch to his gut, and he doubles over in pain. Will shoots out webs onto either of the men’s feet, and the driver is now stuck as well. The driver reaches for his pocket, whipping out a knife. 

“Is that a knife? A real knife?! That’s my weakness, it’s small knives,” Will says sarcastically, before approaching the man, easily dodging his attempts to stab him. He grabs his wrist and twists it in a way so the knife falls from his grasp. Will puts the man’s hands together and webs them, trapping him in makeshift handcuffs. 

He turns to the first man, and easily plucks the two bags from his arms, making tsk noises at him. He hops onto the roof of the car and flicks the forehead of the man stuck to the car. “C’mon man, you know better than this. No stealing, didn’t we learn that in preschool?” 

“What about sharing is caring?” the driver calls out. 

Will pauses, then turns to look at the driver. “Okay, that one was kinda good. Maybe I have competition for my job.” Will shoots out a web and pulls himself to the side of a building, crouching parallel to the ground. “I’ll let you know if a position opens up. Although, I’m not sure superheroes are supposed to be criminals.” 

“Tell that to Deadpool,” the driver shouts back. 

“Great point.” Will pauses. “I don’t have a comeback for that one.” 

“Or Black Widow,” the man stuck to the car offers. 

“You know what, I’ll give them your contact information, you can talk to them yourselves. For now, I’ll let the police handle you guys.” Will waves to a cop on a motorcycle that’s swiftly approaching the alleyway. “That’s my signal. Bye, criminals!” 

Will takes off back where he came from, jumping over the buildings. He drops down in front of the store that had just been robbed, and the owner jumps. Will hands over the bags full of…he’s actually not sure what’s in them, but the owner seems extremely relieved. 

“Thank you so much! How can I repay you?” The man stammers, and Will shakes his head. 

“Hey, all in a day’s work. That’s just what I do.” Will gives a salute, then turns to find the alleyway where he had left Mike. 

“Hey, babe, if we hurry we can still catch that mov-” Will pauses, finding the alleyway empty. He crouches to pick up his shirt that had been left behind, along with his other clothes. 

Will tenses. 

Something’s not right. 

The hairs on his arms stand up. His skull buzzes, sensing something behind him, and he flips out of the way as a round orange sphere whizzes past his head. It explodes once it hits the ground, sending out a burst of heat. Will coughs through the smoke, and turns to see the Green Goblin cackling on his glider.

“Looking for someone?” The Goblin taunts, and in his hand he holds Mike by the collar, who’s clearly torn between trying to break free but not wanting to splatter onto the pavement below. Mike glances up and makes eye contact with Will. 

“I’m okay!” Mike calls out, but Will can see the fear in his eyes. 

“Mike!” Will shoots out a web to the glider, but Green Goblin angles it and snaps the web on the sharp metal edges. He flies away, cackling as he goes. 

“Shit!” Will yells, jumping onto and running along the sides of buildings to follow him. Green Goblin laughs at his efforts. 

Will half runs, half swings after the Goblin, jumping from cars to the walls of buildings, to webs to any other random object sticking out that he can jump off of. Green Goblin tosses a pumpkin bomb over his shoulder, where it falls for a moment before landing on a sign for a deli underneath it, right as Will swings by it. The explosion falters his swing, and Will starts tumbling to the ground. He throws out his arm and eventually gets himself to stick to the building, but not before he slides down the bricks at least ten feet. 

“Shit.” He feels blood trickling down his cheek. He swallows, trying to catch his breath, and pulls himself back up on a web to chase after Green Goblin. 

He starts to catch up, and eventually follows him to a clearing. Will groans as a particularly busy intersection comes into view. Green Goblin whips around, circling high into the air, and Mike clutches onto the Goblin’s wrist as it becomes increasingly loose around Mike’s shirt.  

“Let him go!” Will shouts from the ground, and Green Goblin cackles at him. 

“If you insist.” He grins and drops Mike, and Will launches off of the hood of a car to meet him, wrapping his arms around Mike’s waist and they spin together as they fall towards the ground, Will’s back hitting the street. 

The wind is fully knocked out of him. “Are you okay?” he wheezes out, and Mike’s eyes widen. 

“Will, oh my god-” Will interrupts him by shoving him off and jumping to his feet. Pain shoots through his back, but he ignores it and shoots out webs onto buildings behind the Goblin. Will launches himself into the air, landing a kick to Green Goblin’s face. 

The villain cries out, and Will lands on the side of a building. A few people on the street cheer for him. Will jumps out again, landing a punch to Green Goblin’s face as he passes by and more cheers arise.  

Green Goblin tosses out another Pumpkin Bomb, headed for Mike behind him. Will manages to catch it in a web, and slingshots it back to the Goblin. It hits his glider, and he teeters in the air. Despite the Goblin’s armour taking the brunt of the bomb, he still crouches to one knee, heaving out coughs. 

Will jumps onto the top of a car to try and get one more punch in, but Green Goblin zooms away. He’d usually follow him, but Will instead turns back to see Mike, as well as a small hoard of people staring at him. 

A man approaches Mike, and Will recognizes him as Eddie Brock from the Daily Bugle. Mike glances at him for a second, then waves him off, but Eddie is persistent. 

Will drops down next to Mike and glares at Eddie, who holds his hands up. “Sorry! Just asking some questions on behalf of J.J. Jameson.” He smirks at Will. “You know how big of a fan he is.”  

“Great,” Will mutters. He takes Mike’s arm and they take off down the street, elbowing past people before they eventually stop once the crowds have somewhat lessened, and slip into an alley in privacy.

“Are you okay?” is the first thing Will asks Mike. 

 Mike clutches onto Will’s forearms. “Yeah, I’m fine, but are you okay? That was a crazy fall.” 

Will touches his hand to his back, and he feels his adrenaline rush fading. His back hurts like hell. Will tries to cover up a wince as pain shoots through his body with each breath. “Yeah, I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me.” Will glances around, then pulls off his mask, leaning his shoulder against the side of the building. “Shit, dude.” 

“Yeah that was…” Mike takes in a shaky breath, “that was pretty crazy.” He lets out a laugh. 

Will watches him with upturned eyebrows. “That was awful. I can’t believe I put you in danger like that.” 

Mike glances at him. “Hey,” he says gently. “We both know that was Green Goblin, not you.” 

Was it though? Will says nothing, and just swallows. “We should get home,” he says after a long pause. 

Mike studies him. “Okay,” he says after another moment. “Do you have clothes you can wear? I don’t remember where we left them.”

“No, it’s fine. I’ll just swing us back.” 

Mike shakes his head. “You should be resting, especially after that kind of an injury.” 

“Mike, it’s fine. I’ve had worse.” 

Mike furrows his brows in worry. “Worse?” 

“I have super strength and super healing. I’m resilient, Mike. Don’t worry about me.” 

Mike takes in a breath. “Okay. If you’re sure,” he decides. “But you’re resting as soon as we get home, okay?”    

Will snorts. “Okay, Dr. Wheeler.” Will slides his mask back on and wraps an arm around Mike’s waist. He pulls them into the air and towards their apartment. 

He drops them at the balcony, and Mike immediately goes to the freezer to retrieve ice packs. 

“You should go lay down. On your belly.” 

Will gives a teasing smile. “Oh, it’s that kind of night?” 

Mike glares at him. “No, you need to rest.” 

Will rolls his eyes. “I’m fine, I promise.” He’s really not, but he doesn’t want to see Mike’s reaction to what his back probably looks like. He’s only had a broken rib once before, but he’s pretty sure this marks number two, maybe even number three as well. 

Mike, with his arms full of ice packs and bags of frozen vegetables, nudges Will to Mike’s bedroom. “C’mon.” Will reluctantly follows. 

He pulls off his mask, and winces as he feels an open wound on the side of his head. He presses a hand to it to cover it up, but Mike notices and sighs.

He drops the various ice packs on his covers, and points. “Bed. Now.” 

“So bossy.” 

Mike eyes him. “Now.” 

Will rolls his eyes as he takes off the rest of his suit and collapses onto the mattress, face up. “You know, usually a guy will take me out for dinner, maybe even treat me a little bit before he gets me into his bed,” he says, as Mike leaves the room to grab a washcloth.

“Right.” Mike returns, climbing into the bed after Will. He offers Will some ibuprofen, and he swallows the pills dry. Mike then takes Will’s face in his hands, and Will shivers at the gentle touch. Mike turns Will’s head to the side, then starts dabbing at the wound. 

“Stitches?” Mike asks. 

Will shrugs. “Probably not. How bad does it look?” 

Mike twists his mouth to the side. “Not the worst. But still not great.”

“Then it’s probably fine. I wouldn’t worry about it.”

Mike huffs. “I know you wouldn’t,” he says. “But I worry.” 

“I know you do,” Will says under his breath.

Mike finishes cleaning and bandaging his face, then lets go of Will’s chin. “Okay, roll over.” 

Will opens his mouth. 

“And no sex jokes.” 

Will closes his mouth. He crosses his arms over the pillow and rests his chin on his hands. 

Mike takes in a sharp breath when he sees the bruises decorating his back. “God.” 

Will chews on the inside of his lip. “Is it bad?”

Mike swallows. “Uh…” he starts placing ice packs along Will’s spine. “Yeah, kinda. Have you ever had a broken rib before?”

“Yeah. From fighting Sandman.” The ice packs do help a little, and hopefully within the next few days he’ll barely feel it. 

Mike takes in a breath. “Does this feel, like, hospital level serious? Be honest.” 

Will purses his lips. “Probably not. Between medicine, ice, and rest I’ll probably heal just fine.” 

Mike squints at him for a moment, then peers at his back. “Okay. If you’re sure.” Mike moves to rest his hand at the base of Will’s neck, gently brushing his fingers through his hair. 

Will softly gazes at Mike, and he moves his attention from Will’s back to meet Will’s eyes. 

“That was,” Will takes in a shaky breath, “That was really scary today.” 

“Yeah, for me too.” Mike swipes his thumb over Will’s cheekbone. “But it’s okay. I’m fine, we’re fine.” 

Will nods numbly. Are they? Sure, Will is bloody and bruised, but that’s something he’s handled plenty of times before. 

But Mike? 

He’s only just gotten Mike back these past few months, and he can’t imagine what it would be like to lose him again, and for good? He can’t bring himself to think about that. 

Despite himself, flashes of scenes go through his head, what would have happened if Will hadn’t caught Mike? If he’d had to go home alone, without him? Or what if he did catch Mike, but landed the wrong way, permanently injuring him? Mike can’t physically handle such a blunt trauma the way Will can. And what if Green Goblin had managed to get a bomb close enough to Mike to seriously injure him, or even kill him? 

“I’m sorry,” Will whispers. 

Mike shakes his head. “For what, baby?” 

Will blinks and swallows, trying to keep tears at bay. “I screwed around while chasing after those burglars. If I had been faster I would’ve been able to get back before Green Goblin took you.” 

Mike puts his hand on Will’s cheek. “You know that’s not your fault. Okay?” Will glances down, and Mike follows his gaze, peering up at Will. “It’s not your fault. I don’t blame you, and you shouldn’t either.” 

Will nods, avoiding Mike’s eyes. 

Mike nudges his chin up with his fist. “Okay?” 

Will looks at him. “Okay,” he says. 

Mike gives him a soft smile, then leans in for a gentle kiss. Will closes his eyes, and tears prick at the back of his eyelids as he kisses him back. 

Mike sits up on his arm, running his hand down Will’s back. He kisses Will’s shoulder, delicately rubbing the skin not bruised. “Does this hurt?” 

Will shakes his head. Mike brushes his fingers along the bruises, not pressing into them, just lightly touching. 

“It’s incredible,” Mike says quietly. “Your body.” 

Will lazily smirks. “I’ve heard that before.” 

Mike rolls his eyes. “Not like that, well, yes like that, but also in a nerdy, I think your powers are super cool way.” Mike touches one of the bruises. “Like, it’s incredible that your body can just heal itself so quickly. Truly fascinating. Like,” Mike sits up, examining Will’s back closer. “All of this will probably be gone in a week, if that. It’s amazing.” 

Will snorts. “That was the spider.” 

“Will, c’mon.” Mike nudges his leg with his foot. “We gotta work on your self-talk, okay? You’re amazing.” Mike grins down at him. “Will you say it? You are amazing.” 

Will stares at him for a moment, then puts his hand on Mike’s face and shoves him away. “Shut up,” he says, a smile pricking on his face. 

Mike catches his wrist and presses kisses onto the palm of Will’s hand, then his wrist and up his arm until he reaches Will’s face.

“Careful,” Will says, a smile toying on the corner of his lips. 

Mike kisses him, deeper this time, his tongue slipping into Will’s mouth. Will slings an arm around Mike’s waist, pulling him closer. He moves to press his chest against Mike’s, but he stops him. 

“Hey, don’t move. Your ice packs are falling off.” Mike pushes him back onto the mattress, and Will puts his face into the pillow and dramatically groans. 

He lifts his face to the side, and sees Mike grinning as he balances the ice packs on Will’s back again. A warm feeling fills Will’s body as he watches Mike so intensely take care of him. He wonders how he even did it without him, then, once again, thinks about what might happen if he had to go back to doing all of this without Mike. 

He tangles his fingers in Mike’s hand, maybe to ground himself. Mike’s right here, at least for right now. “Hey.” 

Mike looks down at him. “Hey.” 

Will glances between Mike’s eyes. “I love you.” 

Mike smiles. “I love you, too.” He leans down and presses a kiss to Will’s temple. “I’m gonna go get ready for bed, stay here. Doctor’s orders.” He winks at Will.

Will swallows, and a sense of dread fills his chest as he watches Mike leave the room. He can’t tell if it’s his spidey senses or not. 

Will can’t sleep. 

This isn’t new, he’s only had restless nights since the Green Goblin incident. Mike lays beside him, an arm slung over his waist. Will watches him sleep, and finds it beautiful how his hair falls over his face and how Mike can look so perfect, even while unconscious. 

Will brings a hand to his face, gently curling a finger around one of his locks of hair. It’s soft against his skin, and he brings his hand to the back of Mike’s head to bury his hand in his curls. 

He then presses his hand against Mike’s ribs, feeling him breathe underneath his palm. It’s comforting, to feel the steady rise and fall of his chest. 

Will looks at Mike’s face again, his eyes shut and his lips just barely parted. Will touches his lips, feeling his breath against the pad of Will’s thumb. 

Will closes his eyes, trying to shove away intrusive images of Mike laying in front of him, dead and motionless. Somewhere in the backing track of these scenes he hears the Green Goblin cackling. A part of him selfishly wants to wake Mike up, to see him, talk to him, just to remind him that he’s alive. 

Will pulls away, gently lifting Mike’s arm off of his waist. He tosses on an old hoodie with a faded Fantastic Four logo and slips out of the room. 

He paces around the very small kitchen, worrying the skin on his thumb. He’d light a cigarette, but all he could find was an empty pack in his jacket pockets. After he’s made his rounds on the floor, he moves to the ceiling, pacing back and forth upside down. He notices a folded newspaper on the coffee table in the living room, and quietly jumps down to grab it. 

It’s a Daily Bugle paper, Mike must have brought it home from work. Will takes it to the kitchen and leans over the counter, skimming through it. 

…Something about Green Goblin’s attack felt almost personal. Does Spider-Man know this person from his civilian identity?... 

…People claim to have seen the hero on top of various buildings, kissing and making out with someone. Could the masked vigilante be in the middle of a love affair?...

…J. J. Jameson recently commented on rumors spiraling about Spider-Man’s sexuality. “Look, I don’t care if Spider-Man is black or white, gay or straight, mutant or sapien. Only one thing is for certain: Spider-Man is a menace!”

Green Goblin’s recent target, MJ W, has opted to remain anonymous and refused to comment on their relationship with the masked hero. 

As if on cue, arms wrap around Will, and he tenses for a moment, before realizing the familiar body pressed against him. 

“You scared me,” Will mumbles. 

“I thought you had a tingle thing,” Mike says into his hair. 

His breath tickles Will’s neck, and he laughs. “I have a tingle thing, just not for you. Only for danger,” he says as Mike presses kisses against his neck. He turns his head to look at Mike, pursing his lips into a smile. 

Mike gives him a kiss on the lips, and Will grins into it, despite Mike’s morning breath. Mike tries to deepen the kiss, licking at Will’s teeth, and he pulls away, laughing. “Slow down, you have a bit of morning breath.” 

Mike scrunches his nose at Will. It’s incredibly adorable. “So do you, but I don’t mind.” 

“Gross.” 

“How is that gross? I’ve literally been insi-” 

Will shuts him up with a kiss, this time slipping his tongue into Mike’s mouth. 

When he pulls away, Mike looks smug. “I thought you said my breath was gross.” 

“It is.” Will rubs his nose against Mike’s. “Shut up.” 

Mike glances at the newspaper in Will’s hands. “What’s this?” he asks, taking the newspaper.

Will sighs, and leans his head against Mike’s, which is now resting on his shoulder. “You got a name drop.” 

Mike furrows his brow as he reads, skimming the front page. “How the fuck does Eddie know my middle name?”

A smile pricks on Will’s lips. “What, you don’t like MJ?” 

Mike wrinkles his nose. “It makes me sound like a girl.” 

Probably intentional, he thinks. But he says “Well, we certainly can’t have that,” and clicks his tongue.  

Mike rolls his eyes and tosses the paper back on the counter. “God, I hate that guy.” 

Will bites the inside of his lip and swallows. 

How different would that paper sound if Mike hadn’t made it? Would speculating Spider-Man’s sexuality be as fun? Or would it be even more fun, considering how much people take to watching famous people go through shit? 

He thinks about Frank Castle’s trial, how it made headlines across the city, projecting all of his deepest traumas to the world, forcing him to relive it over and over again. If a famous hero like Spider-Man were to lose someone so close to him, Will can’t imagine how intense that reaction would be. 

Mike senses that something is wrong. He presses a kiss to Will’s shoulder over the hoodie, rubbing his thumb over Will’s chest, his hand slipping underneath the fabric. “You okay?” 

Will tries to blink away the tears brimming at his eyes. “You’re the one that got taken by Green Goblin.” 

“Hey, that’s just what happens when you’re Spider-Man’s boyfriend,” Mike says, pressing a kiss to Will’s cheek. 

Will pulls away, turning to face him. “Mike, this isn’t funny. What if something seriously happens to you? I can’t-” A tear falls as his voice cracks. “I can’t let that happen. I can’t lose you.” 

Mike wipes away his tear with one hand, and takes Will’s hand with the other, lacing their fingers together. Will watches as Mike presses a kiss to his palm, then his knuckles, then the small scar on the back of his hand from the spider bite. 

“Mike, I love you so much. You’re the best thing to ever happen to me,” he says, his voice falling quiet. 

“I love you too,” Mike whispers back, now tracing his fingers up Will’s forearm. 

“But there’s just such a high risk when it comes to these things. Green Goblin might not know that we’re dating, but he knows enough to know that you can be used as bait. It’s only a matter of time before other villains catch on. They’ll find out and exploit it. They’ll put you in danger because they know it’ll hurt me. And then what? What if something happens to you? I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.” More tears threaten to fall. “I don’t know if I can accept that high of a risk.” 

“I can,” Mike says. He presses his hand to Will’s cheek. “I accept the risk. I accept everything that comes with this.” 

Something in Will sinks. Part of him almost wanted Mike to agree with him, wanted him to choose his safety over their relationship. 

But he should’ve known, Mike’s always been brave. Braver than Will, at least. “Really?” he asks, forcing out a small smile. 

“I accept it all.” Mike presses a gentle kiss to his lips. 

Will puts their foreheads together. “You’ll never know peace again. Danger is a guarantee, you’ll never be truly safe.” Will swallows. “This is just what life is like for people like me.” 

“Peace is overrated.” 

Will glances at him. Mike doesn’t get it. 

Will offers a watery smile, then wraps his arms around Mike, tucking his head against Mike’s shoulder to hide his tears. Mike brushes his fingers through Will’s hair and presses a kiss to the top of his head. 

“I just feel like I need to protect you from everything. I don’t want you to get caught up in all of my mess,” Will says into Mike’s chest. 

“You don’t need to protect me.” Mike moves to look Will in the eyes, nudging his chin up. “I’m a big kid, I can take care of myself.” He gives Will another kiss. 

Will tightens his fingers against Mike’s shirt, and presses their foreheads together again. “You promise?” 

He’s not asking if Mike can take care of himself. He’s asking if Mike understands what he’s getting into, if he’s ready to experience all of this hardship and pain, both physical and emotional, that comes with being a superhero. 

This is Mike’s chance to back out, and something deep inside Will hopes he’ll take it. 

He doesn’t, of course, because he’s Mike. 

“I promise.” 

A lump forms in Will’s throat, and he takes in a shaky breath. After a moment, Mike steps back, resting his arms on Will’s shoulders. 

“You coming back to bed?” Mike gently brushes his fingers through Will’s hair.

Will nods, and follows Mike back to their room, unsure if he’ll even be able to fall asleep. 

The next night, Will goes patrolling for the first time since Green Goblin. 

Everything is fine. 

He saves a few people from a fire, beats up a car thief, talks someone out of jumping off of the Washington Bridge. Nobody kidnaps Mike, nobody calls him a queer or a fag, everything is fine. The article comes and goes, and within a few days nobody cares about whether Spider-Man is gay, beyond the occasional criminal who might ask “ain’t you got a boyfriend or something? I read that in the paper,” to which Will responds with “why, you interested?” which usually shuts them up pretty well. 

The obsession with Mike dying fades from his brain the more he sees him, warm and breathing and very much alive. 

They brave the outside world after two weeks pass and Will is confident that Mike won’t slip from his grasp. They go to a small Thai place a few blocks away, one that they had been meaning to try. 

They’re seated at a small table, sitting across from each other. The glow of the dimming sun rests over Mike’s face, as he describes something very intensely, his eyes bright and his hands moving everywhere. 

The food long gone, Will watches him, and a soft smile spreads across his face, his chin in his hand as he listens. Well, not really listens, he couldn’t repeat a single thing that Mike’s said over the past five minutes, but he likes to watch Mike talk. His voice buzzes through his chest, no matter what the words are, and a loving feeling spreads throughout Will’s body, spreading vines and roots of warmth through his limbs. 

The warmth is immediately replaced by ice when he notices something in the reflection of Mike’s eyes, which flit up and widen. 

Warning bells pound into Will’s skull, almost as if the words “LOOK OUT” were splashed through the air in front of him. He dives down and forward, pulling Mike with him as a car flies above them, inches away from their faces, and smashes into the wall behind them. 

Mike looks up at Will, his chest rising and falling fast. “Will-” 

“You have to go,” Will says, taking Mike’s shoulders and pulling him upward, then shoving him away. “Get out of here! Go home, I’ll take care of this.” 

Mike stumbles back, then stops. “No, are you insane? I’m not leaving you!” 

Will hears a familiar crunch of metal clanking on the ground. He swallows, then grabs Mike and sprints out of the building, pulling off his shirt as he goes. 

“Go home, I’m serious.” Will rips off his outer layers, revealing the Spider-Man suit underneath.

“No, I’m not gonna leave you.” 

“Mike.” Will puts his hands on Mike’s shoulders and glares into his eyes. “I’m not fucking around, you need to leave.” 

Mike hesitates, and Will shoots out a web and pulls his mask on. 

“Mike, please.” Will’s voice cracks, and Mike finally gets the hint. He nods and swallows, before turning away and running toward their apartment. 

Will swings behind Doc Ock, spewing out webs left and right. 

“Ah, there you are! I heard about your little friend, figured I’d give him a greeting.” Otto grins, and it sends a shiver down Will’s spine. “Seems like you came right to his rescue!”

Will tries to swallow the lump in his throat as he fights Doc Ock, but it never goes away. 

 
Will sits on a ledge of the Chrysler Building, tucking his legs against his chest. It’s fully dark out, and Doc Ock has disappeared for now, but Will can’t bring himself to go home yet. The night wind feels cool against his suit, and he leans his head back against the concrete behind his back. He closes his eyes, trying to sort out his feelings. 

He sees the car flying through the air, but a foot lower. He sees himself react too late, he sees Mike sitting in Will’s place, and getting hit first. He sees himself turned away, or in the bathroom, or simply not paying attention. 

Will rolls his mask up, and tears stream down his face. He puts his face between his knees and heaves out sobs. 

Any normal person would end the relationship there, but unfortunately, Will is selfish. He needs Mike, probably way more than Mike needs him, and can’t bring himself to lose him when he’s just now got him. He thinks about his closeted 14 year old self, thinks about how angry he’d be if he knew what Will was considering, despite how far he’s come and how much hurt he’s felt over that boy. 

Will rubs his face with his hands, then locks his arms around his neck. He stares up at the night sky, and sees a flash of light soar by before fizzling out at the Baxter Building a few blocks over. Johnny seems to recognize his silhouette, and raises a hand. Will waves back, hoping he can’t tell that he’s been crying. 

Would everything be easier if Mike was a superhero as well? Will entertains this thought for a moment, maybe they would be some sort of unstoppable superhero couple, like Mr. Fantastic and Invisible Woman. Would he worry the same?

But Mike’s not, he’s fragile and human, and Will’s terrified that one day he’ll break him. 

But Will remains selfish.   

Mike’s awake when he gets back, despite the late hour. He jumps up from the couch as Will comes through the door. 

“Hey, are you okay?” 

Will just looks at him, vision glossy. He nods, shedding his clothes and Mike follows him to the bedroom. 

“You really scared me, Will. I thought something happened.” 

“I’m sorry,” Will manages, despite his rough voice. 

Mike touches his arm, rubbing his thumb against Will’s skin. He brings a hand to cup Will’s face. “It’s okay. I’m just glad you’re safe.”  

Will wraps his fingers around Mike’s wrist and leans into the touch for a moment. “You didn’t have to wait up for me,” Will says, then moves to get into bed. 

“I was going to anyway.” Mike follows him, slipping under the covers. “I wanted to know that you were okay.” 

Will nods. “I’m okay.” 

Mike puts an arm around his waist, slipping his hand under Will’s shirt to rub his back. “You’re okay,” he murmurs, repeating it under his breath. 

Will nods again, and tears start trickling down his face. 

“Hey, hey.” Mike tries to wipe off the tears, but they keep coming. Mike tucks Will against his shoulder and he cries into his shirt. “I’m okay. You’re okay,” he says, as Will’s shoulders shake from his sobs. 

Eventually, Will passes out while Mike is rubbing his back and holding him close.

The Doc Ock incident slowly fades to the past and a few weeks crawl by, but this time Will’s anxieties only seem to grow as the days pass. They lock inside of him, creeping into his daily life with flashes of Mike falling to his death or being stabbed by a villain, his body collapsing in front of Will. 

He tries to shove them out, tries to rationalize that plenty of superheroes have had personal relationships and have made it work, but something in the back of his head keeps whispering the worst possible outcomes. 

He’s gotten better at ignoring them, whether it be for his own selfish need for Mike, or whether he is truly blocking out irrational fears based off of two coincidences. 

Mike knows that he’s going through a lot. He’s gentle with Will, and patient, which isn’t something Will thought was possible (joking). He’s good at reading Will and being able to tell what he needs at the moment, and a lot of the time Will just needs things to be normal. So, they haven’t talked much about the two incidents.

Will’s still Spider-Man. 

Despite it all, he puts himself out there and does what he feels is right. He still patrols, and still has his Spider-Man suit on standby if he ever leaves for an extended period of time. 

Will swings himself through the air and lands on the brick wall of his apartment building. He takes a second, gulping in air through the cotton mask pressed against his face, turning to face the night sky and leaning his head against the wall. 

He crawls to the window of his bedroom, then slowly and quietly slides it open, careful to not wake Mike in the other room across the hall. He slips in, pulling off the mask and closing his eyes while he takes in a real breath of fresh air. 

Arms tightly wrap around his waist from behind, then pull him toward his bed, crashing him sideways onto the mattress and playfully rolling around. Will grips the wrists around his stomach, which only squeeze him tighter. 

“Mike,” a giggle escapes Will, “Let me go!” 

“You’re the one with superpowers,” Mike says, his voice muffled through Will’s hair. “Free yourself.” 

In one swift motion, Will rips Mike’s hands off of his body and rolls over to pin his wrists to the mattress, straddling Mike. He stares up at Will with wide eyes, then lets out a squeak. 

Will gently removes his hands, dragging one down to touch Mike’s waist. “What was that?” He lets out a soft laugh and sits back. 

With one hand, Mike grasps the seam of Will’s suit where the top half meets the bottom half and with the other he traces a hand up Will’s thigh. “You should take this off.” 

Will rolls his eyes and moves off the bed. “I’m going to, it’s all sweaty and gross.” 

Mike groans and rolls onto his side, watching Will peel off the Spider-Man suit. “Not what I meant.” 

“I know.” Will clears his throat. “Uh, why were you in here anyway?” 

“I heard you coming in.” Mike pauses. “Why didn’t you come in through my window?” he asks, sounding a little hurt. 

Will purses his lips “Didn’t want to bother you,” is what he decides on.         

Mike looks at him, his eyes drowsy. “You know I don’t mind,” he says hesitantly.  

Will swallows. “Yeah, I know,” he says. “Sorry.” 

Mike looks at him for a moment, then takes in a breath. “S’okay. Just wondering.” 

Will doesn’t say anything, just nods. He pulls off the top of his suit. 

Mike drags his eyes down his body. “Jesus.” 

Will glances down and a few small bruises pepper his abs, along with a few shallow cuts, but he’s barely even bleeding. “This is far from the worst you’ve seen.” 

Mike’s eyebrows twitch together. “Doesn’t make it better. Who was it this time?” 

Will shrugs. “Ninjas,” he replies, choosing to be vague. 

Mike scrunches his face. “Since when do you fight ninjas?” 

Since Matt dragged me into his shit. “I just went where I was needed.” 

“What, the city ran out of their supply of scientists gone rogue?” 

Will snorts. “Something like that.” Will throws one of Mike’s t-shirts, with a Dazzler album on the front. Will’s never been into that kind of cheesy pop music, but Mike insists that her most recent album is life changing. From the little that Will’s heard, he’s not that big of a fan. 

“I thought you hated Dazzler.” 

“Shut up,” Will retorts. 

Mike’s eyes glimmer with mischief. “Make me,” he says with a shit-eating grin. 

Will shoots out a web onto Mike’s mouth. He makes a surprised noise, and almost goes to touch it, but stops himself. He narrows his eyebrows at Will and yells through the webs. 

Will pulls off his webshooters, then gets on the bed, leaning over Mike. He pulls off the webs, and before Mike can say anything, kisses him with an open mouth, purposefully using way too much tongue, licking into his mouth and pressing Mike deep into the mattress. When he pulls away, Mike stares up at him, his lips still parted. 

“Sorry, were you saying something?” Will asks, a smirk toying on his lips.  

Mike makes an incoherent noise. “Mmgfth.” 

“Oh my god,” Will says, rolling off of him.  

“Why’d you stop?” Mike asks, his words slurring from sleep and probably something else.   

“There’s no way you enjoyed that.” 

Mike puts his hand against Will’s cheek and pulls him back in for a proper kiss. Will smiles against Mike’s lips, before Mike hungrily swipes his tongue on Will’s bottom lip. When he opens his mouth, Mike rolls on top of him, pressing him into the mattress. Will tangles his fingers into Mike’s hair, and Mike groans into his mouth. Mike’s hand dips under Will’s shirt, his fingers dragging up his stomach. 

Mike goes to pull the shirt off of Will, but Will stops him, fingers closing around his wrist. “Mike, you have to be up for work in like,” Will check the clock on the nightstand, “three hours.” Will chooses to not mention that he has to get up for a meeting with a client in four, mostly because he knows Mike will actually stop if he says that. 

“So?” Mike pulls the collar of the shirt down, and goes to mouth at Will’s neck, licking and sucking at the skin. 

“You’ll be exhausted.” 

“Don’t care.” Mike takes a roll of skin between his teeth, and a breathy noise escapes Will.

“Careful, I’ve got a meeting tomorrow. I gotta look somewhat presentable.” 

“Oh, please.” Mike works his mouth against where Will’s neck meets his shoulder, a hand curling around the other side of his neck. “They’ll be gone by the morning.” 

“I seriously doubt that.” Will slips his hand into Mike’s hair, tugging on his scalp and Mike moans into Will’s skin, still biting and sucking. 

“You heal fast. Don’t worry about it.” Mike pulls his face up, examining his work. He presses his thumb against it. 

Will glares at him. “How bad is it?” 

“It’s bad.” Mike moves to the other side of Will’s neck. 

“Mike!” 

“It’ll heal! Eventually.” Mike pulls up to grin at him.  

Will tries to hide a smile under a scoff. “Jameson’s gonna hate you.” 

“He already hates me.” Mike props himself up with his forearms, then slowly and deliberately rolls his hips over Will’s. 

Will’s eyes flutter shut. “He’s gonna hate you even more,” he says, his voice falling breathy as Mike grinds himself further against Will. 

“I’ll tell him I was getting insider information on Spider-Man.” 

“Right.” Will huffs. 

“Did you catch the double entendre?” 

“Shut up.” 

“Are you gonna web my mouth shut again if I say make me?”

Will takes Mike’s face in his hands and kisses him, his fingers curling around the back of his neck. He lifts his leg up, pressing his foot against Mike’s lower back, bringing him closer. They kiss open mouthed and breathy, and Will slides his hands up Mike’s back, then pulls off his shirt. 

“I swear to god Michael, if you’re late for work, I’ll kill you,” Will says, and Mike grins and pulls off Will’s shirt. 

“Fine by me.” 

Will check the clock on the nightstand again. The sky is starting to get brighter through the curtains, and he hasn’t slept at all. Mike is passed out against his chest, his arms wrapped around Will’s torso. Will gently touches Mike’s hair, dragging his fingers through the curls slowly, so as to not wake Mike up. Anxiety bubbles through his chest, and the Spider-Man suit across the room seems to be glaring at him. 

Will’s jaw trembles, and he presses a kiss to the top of Mike’s head, forcing away tears. He wraps his arms around Mike, feeling the warmth of his skin under his fingers. 

Mike huffs out a small snore, and it’s so cute that Will lets out a small laugh, but it fades quickly and is replaced with dread. He keeps wondering if it’s his spider sense, if something is wrong, if he’s doing something he shouldn’t be doing. 

Will closes his eyes and rests his cheek against Mike’s hair. But how could this be wrong?  

Despite all odds, Mike is on time for work the next morning, and Will manages to peel himself out of bed for the meeting with his client. He does end up having to wear a button up shirt (thanks, Mike), but the meeting goes well even if Will downs his entire coffee within the span of an hour. 

When he gets home, those three (if that) hours of sleep hit him like a truck, and he passes out on the couch. 

He wakes up, hours later when the sky is just barely darkening. Will groans and lifts his face from the couch cushion, half of it red and smushed. He rubs his eyes and sits up, trying to get his bearings.  

A warning slams into his skull hard enough to make him see spots and double over, and he presses his hands to the side of his head. 

Something’s wrong. 

“Mike?” 

Nobody answers. What time is it? Will jumps up to check the clock, and it’s well past when Mike would have gotten home from work. 

Something happened to Mike. 

This time, he knows it isn’t anxiety. The feeling is too clear, too loud and heavy. Something happened to Mike. 

Will throws on his Spidey suit and dives out the window, heading for the tallest building nearby. 

In the distance, he sees a commotion on the Brooklyn Bridge. A figure flits through the air, and a chill goes down Will’s spine as he notices someone tied up at the top of the tower. 

He swings through the city faster than he’s ever before, and when he reaches the bridge, he sees a familiar head of curls making a stink eye at the Goblin, who circles him, cackling. 

Will quietly crawls up the side of the tower, then uses a web to slingshot himself towards Green Goblin, a two-legged kick landing on the underside of his glider. He spins out of control, and Will leaps over to Mike, untying the ropes as fast as he can. 

“Are you okay?” 

Mike nods at him with wide eyes, but he looks pale and terrified. Before Will can fully free Mike from the restraints, Green Goblin regains his balance and zips back towards Will. He flips off the back of the tower and free falls for a moment before he shoots out a web to the underside of the arch and swings himself back the other way. 

Green Goblin’s glider doesn’t turn as sharp as Will does, and he grazes the top of a semi truck, throwing him off balance. Will lands on one of the cables, balancing himself on the wire. He glances at the Goblin, who’s heading right towards him, then at Mike, who’s watching him with bated breath. 

Just when Green Goblin is close enough for Will to smell his breath, Will leaps backwards, curving himself through the air and falling fast towards the river. He tucks his arms in and points his legs for less air resistance, and he shoots towards the water like a bullet. 

Just when he’s about to dive in, he thwips out a web and swings himself underneath the bridge, landing and sticking to the underside. Green Goblin’s glider smashes into the water, but he manages to fly out of the waves, and Will groans. 

“Since when is that thing waterproof?” 

Green Goblin cocks his head at Will then throws a Pumpkin Bomb towards him, but he leaps at the Goblin, landing a punch to his face. The bomb explodes behind him, and a concerning tremor goes through the bridge. 

Will lands on the underside again, further down the bridge. “That can’t be good.” 

Green Goblin glances over at him, then grins and zips to the top side of the bridge.

“Shit.” Will swings himself over the top and lands on the road. Cars screech and honk at him, but he runs past them to the Green Goblin, who’s locked eyes with him in a crouch. Will dives towards him, but he moves to the side at the last minute and tosses out three Pumpkin Bombs to the other side of the bridge. 

Will somersaults on the road and leaps up, then sprints back the way he came, where two cars are now teetering off of the bridge. He shoots out a web to a mini van, ripping off the side door. Kids start to tumble out, one after the other, and he turns to the other car and rips off the driver's door, and a man jumps out and runs to help the rest of the van crew pile out. Will flips to the underside, shooting out webs to support the front of the cars. 

He hears Green Goblin cackle from down the bridge, and something about it is so much more chilling than the rest of his laughs. Will turns to see Green Goblin down the bridge, holding Mike by the collar, hundreds of feet in the air. 

Will screams, and starts swinging as fast as possible to Mike, who locks eyes with him. 

Then Green Goblin releases his grasp, and Mike goes hurdling towards the river. 

Blood pounds in Will’s ears, and tears stream down his face, soaking his mask. Mike falls faster, screaming and clawing at the air while Green Goblin cackles above him. Will kicks off the side of the bridge, diving towards Mike, his hand outstretched. 

Just when Will thinks it’s over, his hand locks around Mike’s wrist. He pulls him up and shoots out a web as he wraps his arm around Mike’s waist, and the two of them come to a stop just inches above the water. Mike’s feet even catch some of the waves. 

Will looks at Mike, who stares at him, eyes wide and cheeks tear-streaked. But most importantly, alive. 

Will watches him for a moment, then puts his head against Mike’s shoulder and sobs against it. 

Will swings them to the edge of the bridge and drops Mike off. Mike immediately wraps him in a proper hug. Will lets it happen for a quick moment, but pulls away. 

“You have to go home, okay?” 

Mike looks at him, his jaw trembling. “Will, I thought…” he takes in a shaky breath. “I thought I…that you…” 

“Mike,” Will tries to swallow tears. “Go home. Please.” 

Mike nods, and Will turns away, but Mike wraps his fingers around his wrist. “You’ll be home too, right? Soon?”

Will turns back to Mike, whose eyebrows are upturned. “Yeah,” he says hoarsely. “I’ll be home soon.” 

The Green Goblin is nowhere in sight. Will helps clean up the mess a little bit, and thankfully there were no casualties. He’s not sure he’d be able to stomach anything like that right now. 

He stops when he reaches the balcony of his apartment. He pulls his mask up above his eyes and sobs for a moment, hoping he’ll get all his tears out beforehand. 

When he regains his composure, he reaches for the handle and steps inside. 

Mike runs in from his bedroom, and immediately wraps Will in a hug, and this time, he doesn’t let Will go so easily. 

Will, despite himself, melts into the hug for a moment, his eyes squeezing closed and his fingers curling in Mike’s shirt. 

He pulls away and looks Mike in the eyes. “I’m sorry,” he says, and tears immediately fill his eyes. So much for getting them all out beforehand. 

“Will. It wasn’t your fault.” 

“I wasn’t talking about that,” he says quietly. 

“What?” 

Will presses his lips together and blinks rapidly. “I’m gonna stay at Jonathan’s for a while. I can’t-” Will cuts himself off with a sob, putting his head in his hands. “I can’t do this anymore. I’m sorry.” 

Mike is silent. For a moment, Will wonders if he’s angry, if he’s going to yell or scream or argue, but when he lifts his head, all he sees are tears on Mike’s cheeks. 

“You’re not gonna yell at me? Fight with me?” Will swallows and stares at Mike. 

Mike’s lips part, and he shakes his head, fresh tears falling down his face. “I don’t wanna fight with you.” He takes Will’s hand, and Will lets him. “I love you, Will.” He tries to press a kiss to the back of his hand, but Will pulls away. Mike watches him with upturned eyebrows. “I know you love me too.” 

Will nods, avoiding Mike’s gaze. “That’s why I have to do this. I can’t let you get in danger anymore.” 

“Will-” 

“No,” Will snaps. “No. What if something happens to you? I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.” Will swipes away tears with the back of his hand. 

“I told you, I accept these risks, I want to be with you Will, no matter what it takes-” 

Will shakes his head. “No. It’s not worth your life. I won’t let you.” He takes in a deep breath and looks at Mike. “I’m getting my stuff. I’ll pay my half of rent. I’ll just be at Jonathan’s, you can call him if you need anything.”  

As Will packs up his stuff, Mike hovers over him, watching with a numb expression and fidgety hands. He watches Will change out of his Spider-Man suit, and Will almost wants to tell him to look away, but he can’t bring himself to do so. 

Mike grasps onto his arm when he heads for the door. “Will, wait. Can we talk about this? I feel like-” Mike’s voice cracks, and he rubs his face. “I just-I can’t process this right now. Can we, like, sleep on this or something? Please? I can’t lose you like this.” 

Will puts his hand over Mike’s, and squeezes it. “And I can’t lose you.” He swallows. “Which is why I have to leave.” He opens the door and grabs his bags. “I love you,” he says through his tears.

He doesn’t wait to hear Mike’s response. 

He shows up to Jonathan’s, soaked with rainwater and tears. Jonathan opens the door in pajamas, and his eyebrows go up. 

“Hey, kid. What’s-” 

Will hugs him, practically falling into his arms. Jonathan seems confused, but squeezes Will tight, despite his soggy clothes. 

“Hey, it’s alright, Will.” Jonathan rubs his back. Will pulls away from the hug, trying to wipe away his tears, but failing. “What’s going on, man?” Jonathan takes Will’s bags, and he follows him into the apartment. 

“Is Nancy here?” 

Jonathan clicks his tongue. “No, she’s on a business trip for the weekend.” He sets Will’s bags down by the couch. “You can sleep on here, it’s a pullout. Or, you can sleep in my bed, I don’t mind.” 

“No, this is fine.” Will nods at Jonathan. “Thank you,” he says with a voice crack. 

Jonathan nods. “Of course, man.” He takes in a breath. “Do you wanna talk about it?” 

Will chews on the inside of his lip. “I, uh,” he clears his throat. “Mike and I…broke up.” 

Jonathan’s eyebrows go up. “Shit, dude.” He gestures to the couch, and Will sits down, and Jonathan follows. “What happened?”

Will tries to speak, but he just cries. He leans against Jonathan’s shoulder, who rubs his back. 

“Did he do something?”

“No.” Will wipes away tears, even though they keep coming. “It was my fault.” 

“That can’t be right,” Jonathan pats his back, letting out a weak laugh.

“No it-it is. I was the one who ended it.” Will takes in a shaky breath. 

Jonathan is quiet. “Why would you do that?” 

Will twists his lips as more tears well up. “I’m just no good for him.” 

“What makes you say that? It seems like he loves you, and like you love him.” 

Will shakes his head. “I do.” He glances at Jonathan, then turns away with a sigh. “I love him.” 

“Then why did you break up with him?” 

Will takes a second to blink back tears. “Cause of Spider-Man. I can’t do both.” 

Jonathan nods, taking it in. He sighs, then turns to Will. “So you gave up Mike?” 

Will glares at him. “I didn’t choose to have these powers.”

“You didn’t choose your feelings, did you?” 

Will pauses, his mouth open. “It’s more complicated than that,” he says, his tone frustrated.  

“It’s okay, I get it.” Jonathan nods at him. “You’re scared of losing him.” 

Will nods numbly. “Yeah. That’s why I had to let him go.” 

“But who does that work out for?” Jonathan looks at him. “You lost him anyway,” he says gently. 

Will huffs, then shakes his head. “It’s different. If he…if he died, I would never forgive myself.” 

“Okay.” 

Will squints at him. 

Jonathan laughs, holding up his hands. “I said okay! I’m agreeing with you!” 

“You had a tone.” 

“No I didn’t. Go to bed.” Jonathan rolls his eyes and gets up, gesturing Will up so he can unfold the cot underneath the cushions.

Jonathan puts his hands on his hips once they’re done setting it up. “Just-” he sighs. “Just think about it, okay? Mike’s really good for you, I can tell.” He studies Will. “And you’re really good for him, too. I don’t want you guys to lose that because of an accident.” 

Will would argue, but he’s too tired. 

He thinks Jonathan was hoping he’d change his mind in the morning, after a good night's rest and sleeping on it, but when Will wakes up, he feels sure about it. 

Days go by, more and more without Mike, but anytime Will misses him, he forces himself to think about what it would have been like if he hadn’t caught Mike. He imagines his body floating in the river, he imagines the snap of his neck when it hits the water. It’s hard to think about these things, but he knows it would be worse to live them. 

He stays on Jonathan’s couch, and neither him nor Nancy mind. He tries to pay a portion of rent, but Jonathan refuses it. 

“Dude, your pictures pay our rent. Don’t worry about it,” is what he always says. Will still feels bad, and is sure to stock the fridge (at least as much as he can with his limited funds) anytime he goes to the store. 

He sees Mike a few times, but Mike doesn’t see him. 

It’s weird and creepy, he’s well aware. But every once in a while (okay, almost every day), he’ll go to the top of a building that he knows Mike will be at or near and watch him, just to make sure he’s safe. And to see him, make sure he’s happy. 

Mike admittedly doesn’t have the same pep in his step that he usually has, but Will tries to tell himself that him being sad and alive is better than him being dead. Still, it breaks his heart to see Mike like that. 

He half expects Mike to start dating again, while Will barely has time for the Will Byers side of life, he’s sure that within a week Mike will have cute boys lined up down the block. The thought makes him sick. 

But, he hasn’t seen Mike go out on dates, unless he and Dustin have decided on a drastic change in their friendship. Will would call Dustin too, but he knows he’ll just try to convince him to get back with Mike, and Will’s already getting enough of that from Jonathan. 

One night, after his patrol, he came back to Jonathan flipping through some photos on the kitchen table.

He sits across from him. “Anything good?” 

Jonathan shrugs. “A few solid ones.” He slides over a stack of pictures of Will, or more accurately, Spider-Man, in action, swinging through the city, and simply sitting on a rooftop eating a hotdog. 

Will flips that last one around. “Seriously?” 

Jonathan grins, and takes it from him. “It’s sweet. It makes you seem likeable and approachable. Just a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.” 

“A messy Spider-Man.” Will curls his nose up and points to a bit of mustard that had stuck to the corner of his mouth. “That’s awful.” 

“I’ll edit it out, don’t worry about it.”  

Will rolls his eyes and leans against his chair. Jonathan gets up and opens a drawer behind him. “What are you doing?” 

“Hang on, I’m looking for something.” Jonathan finds what he’s looking for, another photo, and hands it to Will. 

It's him and Mike on the Empire State Building, watching the sunset. Will’s leaning against Mike, and the sky in front of them is pink and beautiful. A lump forms in Will’s throat. 

“Jameson would’ve given me a solid cut for that one,” Jonathan says pointedly. “But it looked too intimate. I thought you might want it.” 

Will glances up at Jonathan, his vision suddenly blurry. He nods. “Thank you,” he says, his voice teary. 

“Have you talked to him?” 

Will shakes his head. 

“Have you seen him, at least?” 

Will hesitates, then nods.  

Jonathan glances at him, one eyebrow up. “What, did he not see you?” 

Will grimaces. “I’ve checked up on him a few times.” 

“I think that’s called stalking, Will,” Jonathan teases. 

“It’s not…” Will trails off. 

“Hey, they called me “Stalker” in high school. You’re in good company,” he jokes. 

“Great,” Will mumbles. 

Jonathan eyes him. “I think you need to just talk to him,” he says after a pause. 

“What, are you trying to kick me out?” Will deflects with a small laugh. 

“No, of course not.” Jonathan runs his hands through his hair. “He probably has a lot that he wants to say to you.” 

Will sighs. “Yeah, I know,” he says quietly. 

Jonathan reaches over to pat his shoulder. 

Will glances down at the photo in his hands. “How did you even get this?” He waves it at Jonathan, a teasing smile creeping onto his face. “Maybe the Stalker nickname had some merit.” 

“No! I have cameras set up there, that’s all!” 

“You have cameras set up on the Empire State Building?”

“No, just some nearby.” Jonathan gives Will a pointed look. “You pose up there a lot.” 

Will sputters. “I do not!” 

“Yes you do! You’re a total poser.” 

“I am not a poser.” 

“I have the pictures to prove it!”

Will rolls his eyes and scoffs out a laugh. “I’m going to bed,” he says after a beat. 

Jonathan laughs. “Okay, man. Whatever wins you the argument.” He gets up and shakes his head as he walks past Will to his bedroom. 

Will turns the photo back around, staring at the picture. They fit so well together, like if two people could be puzzle pieces latching onto one another. The two of them just seem to make sense. Will rests his head on his hand. 

Shit. 

Did he mess up?

Will sits at the top of Jonathan’s apartment building, watching the dark street below. His Spider-Man mask is rolled up over his nose, and he takes a drag from a cigarette. He blows out the smoke in a thin breath, watching it curl in the wind. 

It’s a cold night, but that never stopped New Yorkers, and that never stopped Will. Sure, his suit could probably use a few layers, but worst comes to worst he just throws on a beanie or a vest and that usually does the trick, even if it looks a little silly. 

He thinks about Mike. He has been for a while, constantly rethinking his decision but at the same time worrying himself sick over Spider-Man villains coming after him. 

He shivers, and thinks about how warm Mike’s body would be pressed against him, his arms around him, and his lips on his neck. 

Will’s loved Mike for a long time. He can’t pinpoint the exact time that he fell in love with him, but it happened gradually as their friendship blossomed. He always felt different about Mike than he did Lucas or Dustin, even though he loves them too. He pined after Mike in a way that made his chest and stomach hurt, in a way that felt like Mike’s soul was intertwined with him. He hated his feelings so much, but he hated that he couldn’t have Mike even more. He was riddled with jealousy and pain, in a way that crept into his interactions with his sister, in a way that was only softened when he was around Mike. 

However bad his feelings were when he was a teenager, it feels ten times worse right now. He did have Mike, he knows what it’s like to be with him, to be loved by him, to be held and touched by him and now he went and fucked it all up. 

It would be so easy to simply swing to his apartment, throw the door open and confess his feelings and tell Mike that he regrets everything, but his guilt is too strong. Mike gets hurt because of him, and Will can’t bear seeing that. 

He takes in another drag of his cigarette, tears pricking in his eyes. God, everything is so messed up.  

He pauses. Something buzzes in the back of his head.

Will stands up, tensing. He climbs to the top of the next building over, taller than the one he’s on now. He looks out, and in the distance sees an orange glow bubbling on a building that he knows doesn’t have a billboard. 

Will starts swinging towards his apartment building. 

When he gets there, there are already a handful of people on the street, with more coming through the doors. The fire is in the middle section, right where his apartment is.

He does a quick scan of the crowd in front of him, and doesn’t see Mike. A chill goes through his body. 

He swings himself into one of the windows, the one that leads to Mike’s room. 

It’s filled with smoke. Will puts an arm over his face, yelling for Mike as the heat stings his face. He rips off the covers of his bed, and he’s nowhere to be found. He throws the door open, still screaming out Mike’s name. He barrels through his bedroom door, which has a little less smoke, and finally sees Mike. 

“Mike!” Will grabs onto him, pulling him toward the window, but Mike pulls away. 

“No, your paintings!” Mike starts piling Will’s paintings in his arms and Will pulls him back. 

“Mike, I don’t care about them, I just need you to be safe.” 

Mike nods, his eyes wide, and Will punches through the window, sending the two of them through it and into the sky. He drops him off on the street along with the crowd, and a firetruck pulls up behind everyone. 

He hears someone yell that there’s another person trapped on the eighth floor, and Will goes back into the fire. 

He expects Green Goblin to be hiding in the flames, but he’s nowhere to be seen. He rescues a few more people, and the firefighters manage to put out the fire. 

He hears a firefighter speak to another. 

“It was a candle falling over. The guy wasn’t even home.” 

That rings through Will’s ears. It was an accident. There wasn’t anybody behind it, nobody was targeting Mike. He takes in a breath, relief washing over him. 

Mike appears behind him, and Will takes him to a corner of the street, away from other people. 

“Hey, I called Dustin on the payphone, and he said I can stay with him for now, so you don’t-” 

“Are you joking?” Will interrupts him. 

Mike blinks at him. “I just figured that…you know…” 

Will shakes his head. “No, no. You’re gonna stay with me, at Jonathan and Nancy’s. I’m not letting you be alone.” 

Mike takes in a shaky breath. “Okay,”  A smile starts to prick on his mouth. “Okay. That sounds good.” 

Will nods, then hesitantly wraps an arm around Mike, pulling them into the air. 

Will sits on the fire escape, and rain drizzles down. His knees are pulled to his chest, and he stares ahead, just thinking. 

He hears a light tap on the window, then Mike crawls out to meet him. He sits next to him, and they are both silent. 

Mike then turns and wraps Will in a hug. Will melts, and he grasps onto Mike’s shirt, tearing falling down his cheeks. He tucks his face into Mike’s neck and breathes in his scent. It’s calming amidst the cyclone of emotions spinning in his stomach.

Will pulls away, and they both sit, their backs to the metal and staring straight ahead. 

Mike speaks first. “I really missed you.” 

Will nods, more tears falling down his face. “I missed you too.” 

“How did you know about the fire?”

Will’s quiet for a moment. “I could sense it. I could sense that you were in danger.” 

“Is that how you knew…on the bridge?” 

“Yeah.” Will stares at his jeans, picking at a loose thread. 

“I thought your powers only worked if you specifically were in danger,” Mike says. 

Will takes in a breath. “I guess you’re different.” Will glances at Mike, then faces forward again. “You’re a part of me,” he says quieter. 

Mike goes to reach for his hand, but stops and pulls his arm back, wrapping it around his knees. “Me too.” He looks over at Will, then sighs. “I don’t sleep when you’re out,” he confesses. 

Will turns to him with his eyebrows turned up. 

Mike turns away and stares at his feet. “I haven’t slept much since you left.” He meets Will’s eyes. “I worry about you.” 

“I worry about you too, Mike,” Will whispers, and a tear falls down his cheek. 

Mike lifts his hand toward Will’s cheek, hesitating for a moment, then wipes away the tear, his hand lingering on his face. “I know you do.” Mike takes back his hand and clears his throat. “But you can’t make my decisions for me.” He gazes at Will. “No one can. And I want to be with you. That’s what I’ve decided.” 

Will turns away. “Why didn’t you tell me you don’t sleep well?” 

“I knew you would just feel bad about it, feel bad about being Spider-Man while also being with me. So I kept it to myself.” 

“I wish you had told me.” 

Mike shrugs. “Would it have helped?”

Will chews on the inside of his lip. “Probably not.” Will stares ahead, focusing on nothing. A million thoughts spiral through his head, and he can’t decipher a single one. 

“What are you thinking?” 

Will sighs. “I just…I can’t keep you out of danger, no matter how much I try.” 

“I think I just have bad luck,” Mike says dryly. “Danger loves me.” 

A small smile fights to appear on Will’s face. “Right.” 

“It’s true. I have that sort of charm. I attract danger wherever I go. I’m a danger magnet.” Mike cracks a smile, tilting his head towards Will. “They call me Mike “Danger” Wheeler.”

God, Will wants to kiss him. “You’re such a dork.” 

Mike grins, glancing down. He’s incredibly adorable. Mike blows out a breath, puffing his cheeks out. “Nice weather we’re having,” he says after a silence.  

Will rolls his eyes. “Shut up,” he says fondly. 

Mike glances over at him, his lips in a small smile. They look at each other for a moment, in a way that they haven’t been able to in weeks. “You’re my favorite person in the world. Did you know that?” 

Will’s eyes well up with tears as he nods. “Mine too.” 

“I know everything is fucked up, and being a superhero sucks sometimes, but…” Mike takes in a breath. “It doesn’t change how I feel about you. I’d choose you again a million times over, even knowing how shit goes down.” He looks at Will, making eye contact. “I love you so much, Will. It’s all worth it. Anything that happens would be worth it.” He presses his lips together. “I hope you know that.” 

Will sniffs back tears. “I’m so scared of losing you, Mike.” 

“I’m scared of losing you. And I did.” Mike shakes his head. “It was awful. I felt like a piece of myself was missing. You mean so much to me.” Mike fidgets with his fingers. “If we live our lives terrified that we’ll lose each other, we’ve already lost. I’d rather live in the moment with you.” 

Will lets out a small nod. 

“Look. I don’t know what will happen next. But I want to be next to you when it does.” Mike watches him, with hopeful eyes. 

Will brings a hand to Mike’s face, pinching a curl between his fingers and tucking it away from his face. He gazes into Mike’s eyes, and a sense of calm overcomes him, something he hasn’t felt in a long time. “Me too,” he whispers after a long pause.  

Mike breaks out into a wide smile, and he breathes out a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank god,” he says. “I don’t think I would’ve made it much longer without you. I thought I was losing my mind.” 

Will softly snorts. “What, you didn’t have someone to tell you to pick up your laundry?” 

“Yeah, I had to act like a real adult for once.” He grins at Will. “I think I ate ramen for, like, a week straight.” 

“Jesus Christ.” 

“My streak was only broken because I ordered Taco Bell.” 

Will puts his forehead against Mike and giggles. “I sincerely hope you’re joking.” 

“Oh, I wish I was too,” Mike laughs as well. “I missed my housewife.” He pokes Will in the side. 

Will snorts. “Please, the most I’ve ever done is make eggs or order Chinese.”

“Michelin star dining.” 

Will smiles and curls his fingers around Mike’s hair. He glances at Mike’s lips, whose gaze also drops down. Will presses a kiss to Mike’s mouth, and they hold it for a moment, taking in each other as the rain falls around them. Mike gently nudges Will’s mouth open with his tongue, and Will sucks on it. Mike brings his hand to Will’s waist, squeezing and feeling his body under his hand. Will tightens his grip on Mike’s hair, twisting his head to the side. 

Mike slips his hand under Will’s shirt, slowly mapping out his body, as if reminding himself what it feels like. Will leans closer to him, bringing their chests together. Mike wraps his other arm around Will, and he holds them close as they slowly make out, practically on their knees. 

They kiss for a while, all tongue and gasps, reminding each other what it’s like. It’s better than Will remembers, Mike’s body against him, warm and alive and real. 

The rain picks up, and they break apart after who knows how long. 

“We should probably get to bed,” Will says, and Mike just looks at him with the most fond expression. 

“I love you so much.” 

Will laughs, an exhilarating feeling shooting through his chest. “I love you too.” 

Mike climbs back through the window, shedding his wet clothes and replacing them with pajamas, getting into the cot. 

Will pulls off his jeans and tosses on a t-shirt, not bothering with pants, crawling onto the bed and through Mike’s legs, resting his head and arms on his stomach. 

“You crawl like a spider.” 

Will laughs. “I wonder why.” 

“Well, no shit.” 

Will leans his cheek on Mike’s stomach. “Would you love me if I was a spider?” he says, batting his eyelashes. 

“Yeah,” Mike says hesitantly. “Yeah. I would.” 

“You hesitated,” Will says, a smile creeping onto his face. 

“No I didn’t!” 

Will pouts. “You wouldn’t love me if I was a creepy, 8-legged bug?” 

“Of course I would!” Mike runs his fingers through Will’s hair. “Even if you grew four extra limbs and fangs and six eyes, I would still love you because you’re my boyfriend, and I love you for who you are.” 

Will hums. “I think I’d be a cute spider.” 

“Yeah, you’d be the kind with a fat butt.” He grins and leans over Will to playfully smack his ass. 

Will breaks out into a laugh, pressing his face into Mike’s shirt. “Mike, those are girl spiders.” 

Mike pauses. “They are?” 

“Yes,” Will says between giggles. 

“No, there’s…” Mike furrows his brow. “It’s not, like, a species of spider? They’re really all girls?” 

“Yeah, that’s where they store the eggs. If you squish them a million little baby spiders will come crawling out.” 

Mike shivers. “Ew.” 

Will smirks. “They’ll go everywhere, burying themselves into every crevice and dark corner…” 

“That’s actually terrifying, don’t say that.” Mike talks over him, but Will ignores him. 

“...Until they find you and eat you alive!” Will pokes his fingers into Mike’s side, tickling him, and Mike curls up, laughing. 

“Stop, stop!” Mike swats at Will’s hands, but he keeps tickling him. Will joins his laughter. Mike tightens his knees around Will’s hips, then rolls them over, reversing their positions. 

Will stops, and Mike meets his face. Mike then presses a soft kiss to his mouth. He brings a hand to Will’s face and runs his fingers over his skin. 

“You’re so beautiful, Will,” Mike murmurs. 

Will blushes, glancing down with a smile. “So are you.” 

“Shut up. I’m trying to compliment you.” 

“You are, though!” Will touches Mike’s face, the tips of his fingers curling into his hair. “You’re so beautiful, Mike.” 

Mike tries to play nonchalant, but he too blushes and turns away, rolling the two of them onto their sides. “C’mere.” Mike wraps his arms around Will’s waist and pulls him in close to his chest. 

Will wraps an arm around Mike, slipping his hand under his shirt, and rubbing his back. 

“Hey, Will?” 

“Yeah?” 

“Can I ask you something?” 

Will blinks. “Uh, sure.” 

“Were you…” Mike laughs. “Were you following me? After we broke up?” 

Will goes silent. “Um.” 

Mike pulls back to look at his face. “You were, weren’t you?” 

Will flushes. “I’m sorry.” He puts his face in his hand. “I know it was weird and wrong, I shouldn’t have done it.”  

Mike shrugged. “Honestly, if it was anybody else it would have been creepy, but with you…” Mike gently wraps his fingers around Will’s wrist and lowers his hand from his face. “I felt safer knowing you were watching me.” Mike pauses. “Is that weird?” 

A smile pricks at the corners of Will’s mouth. “Yeah, probably.” 

“Then I guess we’re both weird.” Mike grins and presses a kiss to Will’s forehead, tracing his fingers up his back. 

Will laces his fingers around Mike’s neck, pulling him in for a kiss. Will tries to deepen it, but Mike stops him. 

“It’s been an exhausting day, Will.” He looks at Will with soft eyes. “You need to sleep, okay?” 

Mike’s right. Will realizes how heavy his eyelids feel. “Okay,” he mumbles. 

Mike smiles. “Yeah?” He tucks Will’s face against his chest. 

“Yeah.” Will falls asleep to Mike running his fingers through his hair, and it’s the best sleep he’s had in a long time. 

-

Will puts the Daily Bugle newspaper on the counter, the words Spider-Man Makes Appearance At 1995 Pride Parade Alongside Iceman And Others splashed on the front page, the name Michael J. Wheeler credited at the bottom. He sets down his glass of water, then goes to meet Mike in the bathroom.    

Mike’s doing some curl routine that Will had recommended him back when they first started dating, wearing only pajama pants that hang low over his hips. A familiar spider pattern decorates the top of his boxers, and Will furrows his brow. 

He comes over behind Mike and curls his finger around the elastic of his pants, pulling them down to see Spider-Man’s mask decorating his underwear. 

“Getting a peek?” Mike says when Will comes to the other side of the counter to face him. 

Will scrunches his nose in a smile. “Are you wearing Spider-Man underwear?” 

“Yeah. Is that sexy?” 

“Sexy?” 

“Well, yeah. Your face is on my crotch. That’s pretty sexy to me.” 

Will tries to hide a smile. What a dork.  “When did you get those?” 

Mike shrugs. “I’ve built up a collection.” 

Will blinks at him. “How many do you have?” 

Mike thinks for a moment. “I think twelve now.”

“What?”

“Yeah, and one with Daredevil and one with Deadpool.” 

Will stares at him. 

“It was part of a set.”  

Will rolls his eyes and snorts out a laugh. “How have I never noticed?” 

Mike shrugs. “I dunno. You’re usually focused on getting them off of me.” 

Will shakes his head with a laugh, moving to sit on the bathroom counter. “You’re such a dork.” 

“You love me.” 

“I do,” Will says with a huge grin.

Mike finishes fluffing his hair, then turns his head from side to side. “How does it look?” 

Will runs his tongue over his top lip. “Good. Really good.” He nods at Mike, who smirks at him. 

“Glad you convinced me to get this routine.” 

“Trust me, me too.” Will nudges Mike closer with his foot, then buries his hands into Mike’s hair, running his fingers through the curls. He tightens his fingers suddenly, and Mike lets out a breathy gasp. Will wraps his legs around Mike’s back, and puts his mouth to his shoulder, placing open-mouthed, wet kisses to his skin. He pauses, digging his teeth into Mike’s neck, and Mike moans when Will bites down. 

He keeps sucking at the skin, determined to make a mark, while grasping onto Mike’s hair. He pulls away, and a faint purple spot starts to form. 

Mike looks at him with dazed eyes. “Is that gonna show?” 

“Yup.” Will runs his fingers down Mike’s chest. “You can just tell Jameson it was a spider bite.” 

“I’m sure he’ll believe that.” 

Will grins at him, then pulls his legs out from behind Mike, pushing him backwards and hopping off the counter. He corners Mike against the wall and presses more open mouthed kisses to his skin, down his chest and past his navel as he falls to his knees. He stares at Mike from the ground, then hooks his finger into the elastic of his boxers. 

After Mike pushes him to the bedroom to return the favor, Will snaps on a pair of Mike’s Spider-Man boxers, crawling into bed after him. 

“See, when you do it, it’s almost narcissistic.” Mike stares at him with a sideways grin.

“It’s not sexy when I do it?” 

“You’re always sexy.” Mike curls an arm around Will’s waist and pulls him in for a deep kiss. 

Will smiles against the kiss, and they break apart, just gazing at each other for a moment. Mike brings his hand to Will’s cheek. “You okay?” 

Will nods. “Yeah. Better than ever,” he says with a soft smile. “Why?”

Mike chews on his lip. “That was a big step. Spider-Man publicly coming out as gay.” 

Will shrugs. “I’d do it again, a million times. If I had grown up seeing more gay superheroes, I probably would’ve accepted myself a lot sooner. I want to be that for all the other me-s.” 

Mike nods with a smile. He rubs his thumb against Will’s cheekbone. “You’re such a good person, Will. I love you so much.” 

Will runs his hand over Mike’s side. “I didn’t just do it for them, I did it for us. I want the world to know how much I love you, it’s just not a part of me that I want to hide anymore. And whenever you want to come out, I’ll be there with you, right by your side.” 

“I want to, someday.” 

Will kisses him. “I know you do.” 

“I love you so much, Will. And Spider-Man. Both of you.” Mike brushes his knuckles over Will’s cheek. “You’re the best thing to ever happen to me.” 

Will puts his forehead against Mike’s. “I love you too, Mike. MJ. Whatever other nicknames you’ve been given.” 

Mike snorts. “It is kind of growing on me.” 

“What, MJ?” 

“Only from you, though. Nobody else is allowed to call me that.” 

Will smiles. “Then I love you too, my MJ.” He winks at Mike, who pulls him in for a deep kiss.