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Will, rationally , knows he’s sick. He knows, rationally , that he could just call Mike and ask him to hang out, when his nose isn’t so traitorously stopping him from getting air.
But Will also knows, rationally , that he’d have to be physically cuffed to a bed and half dead to turn down an invitation from Mike.
That’s how Will finds himself on the Wheeler’s doorstep, knocking on the door and trying to control his sneezing.
He’s in the middle of not tripping over her legs from the dizziness he feels, when the door suddenly bursts open and reveals a smiling Mike.
“Hi!”
Mike beams at him, catching Will’s wrist and pulling him inside. Will swallows his cough and rubs his eyes before turning around to face his best friend.
“I missed you.”
He smiles at Mike, before the other boy pulls him into a hug. It’s something that Will’s been getting slowly used to over the past months - the affection that came flooding upon him ever since El and Mike’s break up back in April. It’s a lot like getting his best friend back, like all the walls that had once been there are finally crushing down, pushing Will into the spiral of the aftermath.
He couldn’t be happier.
Will wraps his arms around Mike’s waist, letting his best friend put a head on his shoulder, as they hug. He doesn’t even mind the headache crushing his skull from the inside - he’d stand it a million times over if that meant getting to spend time with Mike.
“I missed you, too.”
Mike mumbles into his shoulder before pulling back and furrowing his brows in concern, when he looks at Will.
“You’re pale, Will.”
He says, his hands still on Will’s shoulders, his eyes digging holes into Will’s face.
“Are you sick?”
Mike asks carefully, fully aware of Will’s habit of brushing his well being off as unimportant.
“‘m not.”
Will mumbles, his lips opening in a yawn, as he sniffs and almost falls from the hit of a headache.
“Sure you’re not.”
Mike replies, wrapping a steadying arm around Will’s waist, his reflexes fast enough to catch Will before he loses his balance.
“I’m fine.”
Will tries again, his stuffy nose not letting him pronounce the letter f properly.
“I’ll be fine, let’s get to the campaign.”
He tries to pull away and push Mike in the direction of the basement, but fails nonetheless.
A rock would be easier to move than Mike, when he sets his mind on something. He just stands there, his hand wrapped around Will’s wrist to keep him in place and looks at his best friend with knowing eyes.
Will can’t do anything but sigh defeatedly.
“Okay, fine.”
He gives up and the grasp on his wrist relaxes. He looks up at Mike and sighs again, aware that Mike knows him well enough to get his way either way.
“I may have caught the flu, but it’s not - I’m not that sick.”
Will might be a lot more convincing, if he didn’t shiver uncontrollably at the very last word.
“You’re sick, Will.”
Mike sighs as well, shaking his head over the stubbornness of his best friend. It’s not like he’s surprised, though. The fact that Will trusts him enough to even give up the argument over this washes through Mike with a wave of warm comfort. He knows that with anyone else, Will would still insist on not being sick over his dead body and covered in snot.
Will hangs his head and fidgets with his hands.
“You’re right - I, I’m sick and I’m sorry I came here, I just-“
He coughs a few times, as Mike rests his hands on Will’s waist and brings him closer.
“I just missed you and I wanted to see you.”
Will sighs, turning around to leave.
“I’ll just go home, I don’t wanna be contagious.”
Mike’s grasp on Will’s waist doesn’t loosen, though, as he waits til Will looks up. Mike shakes his head, his eyes full of care.
“No, Will. Come on, you can sleep in my room, I promise. I’ll be right here with you and you can get some rest. That way we’ll still get to spend some time together.”
Mike smiles at him gently, his eyes full of nothing but honesty.
“Are you - sure? I don’t wanna be a bother, I can just sleep at home.”
He asks half-heartedly, wanting nothing less than to leave.
But Mike is already pulling Will in the direction of his room, his arm steady around Will’s waist.
“No. You’re staying right here. I missed you, too, you know?”
Mike smiles at him, helping Will not fall down from the dizziness. Will opens his mouth to protest again but Mike is already one step ahead of him.
He sits Will on his bed, looking down at him in a way that says it’s not even worth arguing, because there is no way Mike is not winning this.
“And yes, before you ask. I will call your mom and tell her that you’re staying, I’m on it.”
Mike says before he leaves the room to make the phone call, letting Will fall backwards onto the bed and give into the sickening feeling of losing the track of his thoughts.
“All done.”
Will lifts his head half-heartedly, feeling the dizziness overtake his body, and sees his best friend again, leaning on the doorframe, looking at him with concerned eyes.
“Thank you.”
Will whispers, bringing his hands to his temples to try and stop the headache.
“Lay down.”
Mike says quietly, coming closer and gently pushing Will back onto the bed until his head rests against the bed frame.
“It’s fine, I swear, just a headache, Mike.”
Will assures his best friend, but immediately winces at the pain taking over the insides of his skull. Mike gives him a look of a mix of disbelief and amusement.
“I’m sure. I dare you to stand up right now.”
Will, like the only person more stubborn than Mike himself that he is, does. He immediately regrets it, when he trips over his own feet and almost passes out from pain.
Mike, whose eyes have not left Will, catches him with both hands at the last second.
“Will.”
Mike sighs, letting his fingers dig into the valley of Will’s waist right above his hips, clearly frustrated with the lack of cooperation. He pushes Will onto the bed again and keeps him in place by his shoulders.
Will doesn’t mind - he’s pretty sure the touch is an image provided helpfully by the quickly rising fever anyway. He might as well give into the hallucination.
“Yeah - okay.”
Will mutters half - heartedly, already feeling delirious enough to know he won’t have to remember this every time he closes his eyes for a moment. He won’t remember the way Mike’s hands fit right into the curve of his waist, keeping him sane and in place. He won’t remember the way Mike’s eyes look at Will with love and care, surrounded by the gently frowned eyebrows, as Mike takes out a blanket and fidgets with it in his hands.
But - Will won’t remember any of it. He’s not sure he’d be able to forget if he did.
“Hey, it’s okay.”
Mike says, his eyes still firm and unmoved, his fingers itching to be reached out - to touch Will, maybe. To make sure he doesn’t slip through his fingers. To caress his cheek and ask him to stay right here, with Mike, in his room forever.
“Just lay down and try to sleep, I’ll be here when you wake up.”
Mike gives into the urge and lets his fingers find his best friend’s hand.
Yeah, Will is definitely delirious.
“And we can play D&D when you wake up, I’ll even write a whole campaign for you, just listen to me.”
Mike pleads, his voice painted with frustration like the time when he had to explain to Holly why she couldn’t have ice cream for dinner.
Will can’t stop himself from shivering, from letting the fever that he knows must be spiking now pull the strings of his body like a puppet and cause goosebumps on his forearms.
“Here.”
Will’s eyes snap up to his best friend, standing in front of him and pulling off his hoodie.
“Take it, I know you hate the cold.”
Mike says, handing Will the hoodie and not looking away until Will obediently puts it on.
“And I hate seeing you cold.”
Mike says quietly, tugging Will into a blanket and laying down next to him. Will is a hundred percent sure he’s lucidly dreaming from the rising temperature.
“Mhm.”
Will mumbles, as he lets his eyes fall and presses his head against the pillow. He can feel his best friend’s body warmth radiating from his right, like he did many times in his dream before - like every time he dreamingly gives into the years of pining and pulls Mike close, resting his head on his chest.
“You wanna stand up now?”
Mike asks with a smile audible in his voice. Will knows this scenario like the back of his hand - more or less, the details of it changing every time. He knows the love in Mike’s voice, he recognises the urge to turn his head and kiss him - he’s imagined it countless times before.
“I want a hug.”
Will replies immediately, his eyes closed, his thoughts not processing anymore. He feels the overwhelming wave of tiredness take over his body. Will knows this scene - he’s about to fall asleep in Mike’s arms, whispering hushed love confessions and pet names.
Will knows what to do - he’s had this dream before. He sniffs - pretty weird that the runny nose doesn’t leave him even in his sleep, if he thinks about it - and lifts his arms to indicate the intentions.
“Uh-”
He hears Mike mutter from the side - that forces Will to open his eyes and lift his head from the pillow. He turns to face his best friend, only to see him gape and blink slowly, his cheeks flushed with pink. Will really wants to kiss him already.
“Why are you not hugging me?”
Will’s eyes fill with tears, when Mike doesn’t move an inch, still resting centimeters from him. Way too many centimeters, if you ask him. Will bites his lip and shoves down the pain of even his own dreams betraying him, not giving him the comfort of Mike’s arms.
“Why are you disgusted with my touch even in my dreams?”
Will swallows a cry and pushes his face into the pillow, trying not to get snot on the soft material.
“What?”
Mike asks, his voice small and weak, like he’s just got punched in the gut.
“I’m not - I’m not disgusted with you, Will. How - how could you think that?”
Mike moves closer and wraps an arm around Will, bringing him close enough that he can press his nose to his best friend’s chest and purr happily.
“Are you - are you purring ?”
Mike laughs, causing Will to tremble slightly with the movements of his chest.
“I’m having a good dream.”
Will mumbles, burying himself completely in Mike’s arms, as his best friend rests his head on the top of Will’s and presses the nose to his hair.
Will’s not sure why they’re not kissing yet, but his head hurts too much to question it.
“I like it here. With you.”
Will says quietly, as he enjoys the feeling of having Mike’s hands run through his hair in calming movements.
“Yeah.”
Mike’s voice breaks, as he bites his lip and looks down at the absolutely most adorable person he’s seen in his life. He can’t stop himself from leaving a butterfly kiss in Will’s hair, thinking about his previous words. Will thinks he’s dreaming. Mike decides to think it’s because of Will’s fever, when the idea of his best friend being convinced it’s more likely that he’s imagining it than for Mike to touch him makes Mike’s stomach drop uncomfortably.
God, he’s done an awful job of showing how much he cares.
“Sleep, Will. I’m here, I’ll always be here.”
Mike takes advantage of the half-unconscious state his best friend is in and lets his heart spill just a little, just enough for a few drops of what he feels for the boy in his arms to drop and land on his tongue.
“Love you.”
Will mutters, right into Mike’s chest, right over his heart - making it stop beating for a few long moments, when Mike’s world drops on its axis.
“What?”
Mike’s hands still in Will’s hair and he looks down, trying to keep himself from shaking at the wave of emotions. He doesn’t hear anything in reply except for the blood rushing through his ears and soft snores coming from under his arms.
Fuck.
Will is sound asleep in Mike’s embrace and, because Mike is a fucking idiot, because he’s hopelessly in love, because he can’t keep his mouth shut - pick your weapon, really - he mumbles back.
“I love you, too, Will.”
He reaches to kiss Will’s closed eyelids before he puts his head back down and spirals into his own thoughts.
Mike, honest to god, is pretty sure he’s going fucking daft . The fact that Will thought he was sleeping is not helping at all and Mike tries his best to push away the implications of the quietly muttered words. Does Will dream about him? Mike bites his lip to contain the groan of frustration, his hands automatically finding the soft waves of his best friend’s hair. He can’t help but look at his face, at the gentle edges of Will’s jaw, at the long eyelashes, fallen on his cheeks, at the slightly parted lips that Mike can’t seem to be able to tear his gaze from.
He wants to kiss him more than he’s ever wanted anything in his life.
Mike doesn’t kiss Will - he stays awake, not daring to move an inch not to wake the resting boy, and admires the effortless beauty laying by him.
“Mike?”
The voice startles him, pushes him out of the bubble of admiration he’s placed himself in the entire time Will slept. Mike’s breath hitches, when he realises their noses are almost touching, as Will seems to have cuddled even closer in his sleep.
“Yeah?”
Mike whispers, not wanting to scare Will away, to have him realise this isn’t a dream - to have him shatter the hopes of Mike’s dreams coming true.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
Well, fuck him, because Will has realised.
“I - uh. No - am not.”
Mike replies, intelligent as ever, and buries his face in Will’s hair so that he doesn’t have to face the realisation creep up Will’s face when he notices the redness of Mike’s cheeks.
“Did I do something?”
Will asks through his runny nose, not really expecting a yes but still having to make sure, because, of course he does. He’s Will.
“N-no.”
Mike’s voice at the one syllable word, as his body refuses to lie to Will and stills the embrace they’re in.
“Fuck.”
Will says, as he pushes Mike away from the hug, half sitting up and wincing at the headache.
“I did - I did something or, or said something and now you won’t tell, because you don’t want to hurt my feelings. And I - fuck, I don’t even remember, everything is such a blur to me-”
Will starts blabbering in panic, his hands quickly finding their way to his hair, pulling at it and covering his face before Mike can notice the tears.
The worst of it, though, is the complete hopelessness. Will can’t even say sorry, because he has no recollection of anything past receiving the hoodie he’s still wearing. He presses the fists covered in too - big sleeves into his eyes.
“No, no, Will, no.”
Mike coos, regaining his composure, as he sees Will panic. He’s fucked it all up again.
“Hey, it’s okay, you didn’t do anything.”
Mike coos, trying to pry Will’s hands away from his face. He settles for wrapping them in his own fingers, before intertwining them.
“You - look, I think you thought you were dreaming and like - I don’t know, sleep talking?”
Mike tries, hoping that Will won’t press the matter, that he won’t take Mike’s heart again just to shatter the hopes after finding out the full truth.
“What did I say?”
Of course, Will does press it, because he’s Will. Mike really should’ve known better.
“You said - I, uh. You said ‘love you.‘ “
As soon as the words fall from Mike’s lips, Will’s face turns the whitest he’s ever seen. He puts his head on his brought close knees and wraps his arms around it.
“Sorry, fuck, I’m so sorry, Mike, you didn’t - I wasn’t. I shouldn’t have said that.”
Will mumbles panicky and Mike starts worrying he’s going to run out of air. Mike puts his hands on Will’s shoulders, trying to get him to look up.
“Will, Will, please, relax. I’m not mad, I promise, I’m not mad.”
Mike reassures, trying to find the proper words to get his best friend to stop pulling his hair in despair. He repeats it a few times, until Will’s grip tightens and he lets Mike wrap a protective arm around him.
“I didn’t mean to.”
Will sobs into Mike’s arm and Mike’s heart drops.
“To do what?”
He asks carefully, his body ready to shatter with the rejection he’s about to hear.
“To fall in love with you.”
Will whispers and Mike seriously considers if he isn’t the one dreaming right now. But he can’t be - not when his best friend tries to rock himself calm in Mike’s arms, not when Will’s tears are still wetting his hoodie. Not when Mike’s heart squeezes in on itself like every time he sees Will cry.
“You’re in love with me?”
Mike asks in the softest voice he can manage, his fingers brushing Will’s cheekbones, trying to make Will look him in the eye, when Mike puts his heart on the line, serving it to Will on a silver platter.
“Yeah.”
Will manages through the half - broken tears and Mike thinks he’s never seen anything more beautiful, because Will loves him.
Will, his best friend, the prettiest person Mike’s ever laid his eyes on, the only one able to brighten Mike’s mood, someone who Mike loves and protects more than he cares for his life - this person loves him. And Mike loves him right back.
“Will.”
Mike says, trying to find the words to put all of his thoughts in, to finally let Will see at least bits of the inside of his head, to make him realise how in love with him Mike is.
“Yeah?”
Will asks quietly, tears and snot mixing on his face, but still listening, still doing what Mike asked him to, just because Will loves him. And fuck, call him insane, because Mike doesn’t think Will’s ever looked more beautiful.
Mike kisses him.
It’s nothing like kissing El, nothing like the forced and short kisses, nothing like drowning in helplessness - nothing like pretending . No, Will is everything. He’s warm and beautiful, wrapping his hands behind Mike’s back, bringing him closer, opening his mouth. Will is everything, he’s like jumping off a cliff and not knowing what comes next. Will is everything and fuck, because he’s kissing Mike back.
Will is tilting his head to get a better angle, to lick into Mike’s mouth, to melt them together. He’s letting his tears fall down on Mike’s cheeks, letting Mike push back a little and kiss them off his cheeks.
Will is beautiful and Mike loves him, as he presses a few short kisses on his lips and smiles against his mouth, when their foreheads rest together.
“I love you so much, god, I can’t believe you thought you were dreaming rather than just accepting that I’m hugging you.”
Mike teases and admires when Will’s cheeks get covered with a pretty shade of pink. He doesn’t get to gaze at it for too long, because Will bites back, of course he does.
“You can’t?”
Which, actually - a valid point, so Mike can’t really do anything but roll his eyes and suck on Will’s lower lip before kissing him properly again.
“You’re gonna get sick, too.”
Will murmurs into his mouth, but makes no movement to stop. Mike kisses him again, trying to get used to the feeling of butterflies escaping the cages he’s locked them in years ago.
“I can’t bring myself to care right now, my love.”
And if Mike has to spend the next week in bed with a runny nose, then s o fucking be it, because Will spends it with him, not caring for the snot Mike wipes off, before kissing him again.