Work Text:
Loving Michael Wheeler shouldn’t be as easy as it is. It should come with the constant reminder of who he used to be, how he used to treat him. It should be countless tears shed, and forlorn glances, and it’s not my fault you don’t like girls playing on loop in his head. It should be the most devastating thing in the world, like how it used to be. But it isn’t, not anymore.
——
They’re all crowded into a booth at the new diner; Dustin, Will, and Mike on one side, and Max, Lucas, and Jane on the other. All of them are definitely too old to be sharing three to a bench but they squish in anyway. It’s an unspoken rule between them all of them at that point and has been for years, don’t let go. Except usually it’s a bit more manageable because every other time they’ve been here they’ve been seated at a real table, with their own chairs. But Max was feeling steady enough to use her cane today so here they are, crammed into a booth like they’re still twelve, only they’re about five years too big.
“Afternoon my lovelies, and how are we all on this fine day?” The waitress greets the table as she makes her way over and places three plastic wrapped menus and a bound paper menu in front of Max. General murmurs come from around the table in response as Max passes out the menus.
“I’m well, Patty, but I think I may have to break up with my boyfriend today, he’s just really getting on my nerves.” Max responses through giggles as Lucas buries his fingers in her side.
“Oh no, he’s right beside me, isn’t he?” She brings her hands in front of her face in fake shock and Will can’t help himself when he breaks out into a grin.
Because God, he loves Max. She’s still so herself. Making jokes about breaking up with Lucas even though everyone knows they’re built to last, greeting almost everything Mike says with an exaggerated eye roll and a loving smile, claiming to want nothing to do with Dustin’s “nerd crap” but sitting with him as he reads every one of his new comics. Gossiping and laughing with Jane while she paints their nails in the room next to Will, and popping her head in the door to ask for the sixth time if he wants to join them.
It’s not been easy for her, Will knows that. It took a lot to get to where she is today. She barely let the party see her in the beginning, while she was learning to walk again on the legs that didn’t feel like hers, with the uncertainty of not knowing what was even around her, if she was truly safe. And it’s not like it’s all sunshine and happiness now either. There are bad days; days where she can’t get out of bed because she’s in too much pain, or because she’s stuck in the memories that are too traumatic for her to think about all at once.
Will’s glad he has Max, that they all do. He reaches his foot out under the table towards her and their ankles intertwine. An unspoken gesture that they have had for years, no words necessary. I love you, thank you for existing.
By the time Will lands back in reality, Patty is gone and everyone is discussing what they’re going to order.
“I really liked that sandwich we had last time we were here. It was good, wasn’t it?” Mike nudges him with an elbow, a tiny gesture in their close quarters, and his heart stops. Right. Last time they were here. The rest of the party were busy so it was just Will and Mike. Sitting across from each other in a booth, sharing a sandwich and fries in a totally platonic way. Even if Will’s free hand kept drifting towards Mike’s as they both laid on the table. Even as Will’s eyes lingered on Mike’s lips after he licked them clean of crumbs. Even if Mike’s did the same.
“Yeah it was really… tasty.” Will managed to get out in response. And if his cheeks tinge pink, or his eyes dart down for a split second against his will, nobody mentions it.
“Okay Jesus Christ,” Dustin suddenly exclaims. “I’m hanging on by half an ass cheek here, shove over Mike.” He looks Mike dead in the eyes, raising his eyebrows expectantly when Mike makes no effort to move.
Something or someone must kick him into gear though because before Will can do anything to help Dustin, Mike is pulling his arm out from where it’s squished between them, swinging it over Will’s shoulders and pulling him tight into his side.
“Thank you.” Dustin grumbles from beside him, pressed flush against Will with his full body on the bench again. They’re still not as close as him and Mike. From shoulder to toe they’re pressed against one another, and it should be overwhelming for him. It is overwhelming, but it also feels right. Like maybe this is how they were always meant to be.
“You okay with this?” Mike whispers softly once the conversation starts back up after Dustin’s outburst.
“Yeah, of course.” He doesn’t even have to think as he whispers his response. A few moments pass of them just observing each other, locked in their bubble, before Will asks, “Do you wanna split that sandwich again. It actually was really good.” Mike’s small smile breaks out in a grin as Will’s grows to match it.
“Yeah, of course.”
——
Loving Michael Wheeler used to hurt. God, did it hurt. Coming back to Hawkins and facing what they faced was bad enough, but the fact that Will’s brain only had two things on loop made those first few weeks unbearable.
I feel like I lost you.
My life started that day we found you in the woods.
Will knew that one day it wouldn’t hurt. He would fall out of love and everything would work out. He’d find a nice boy to bring to Mike and Jane’s wedding and he would wish them every happiness and mean it. But for the time being it just hurt. Seeing them hold each other tight through the waves of demo-creatures that burst through the open gates, watching them sneak away from the group when they think no one is watching, hearing them say “I love you” so casually that it’s shortened to “love you”. Will loved them both more than anything but it hurt to love Mike differently.
Loving Michael Wheeler hurt, until one day he realised that it didn’t.
It turned out Mike and Jane had broken up pretty much as soon as they got back to Hawkins. A month later they had all gathered in Max’s hospital room, apparently Jane had insisted on waiting until Max had woken up to break the news.
“What the fuck!?” Dustin spat through a mouthful of one of Karen Wheeler’s weekly ‘Get Well Soon’ cookies she sent along to Max.
“Dustin is freaking out.” Lucas loudly whispered to Max from where he was perched beside her on the bed.
“Yeah, thanks, I’m blind not deaf, asshole.” Max barks back but there’s a smile toying at her lips.
“Sorry that’s not what I-“ Dustin rushed out as soon as he realises how he must have sounded. “I just mean… I’m not upset about it, well- no, I mean… I mean I’m just surprised. Is all. That it took this long- or- that’s not right either.”
“Dustin’s trying to cover his ass and failing miserably.” Max gently slapped Lucas on the chest and they smile, leaning into each other just a bit closer.
“It is okay, Dustin. We know what you are trying to say.” Jane reassured him, as she squeezed Mike’s hand just a bit tighter in hers.
“To be honest I’m surprised it took this long too.” The tone of Mike’s voice pulled Will’s eyes up from their intertwined hands to his eyes, already looking back at him.
And how he looked at him. God, he looked like Will had hung the stars and named them all for Mike. It was a strange feeling he had in that moment. Like panicking to finish all your homework on a Sunday before school starts, only to remember it’s a long weekend. Like thinking you’ve drunk the last of a Coke, only to tip the can and have those last two drops come out. It was like thinking you’re about to run out of the paint colour you’ve perfectly mixed, only to find there’s just the right amount to finish. It’s a look that says I love you, and a little bit more.
Will couldn’t help but look away, afraid that Mike might see the same look in his own eyes. He still smiled to himself, and when he looked back up he sees that same look, only in Jane’s eyes. He followed it across the room to Max, and several things click into place at once. Mike and Jane had loved each other; but how Will and Jane loved each other, not how Will and Mike loved each other. The jealously and hurt he tried so hard to squash down had bloomed in an instant, into the greatest love he had ever known, for both of them.
——
From that moment on, loving Michael Wheeler was easy. There was a shift for them that day, and it wasn’t a grand realisation or an epiphany, they had just changed. Will and Mike went from being Will and Mike, back to being Will&Mike. And Will had never been happier. They played Nintendo and read comics together and they sat in comfortable silences as Will would draw and Mike would write, never sharing their creations but just creating with each other. They start sleeping over again, just them, and if at some point they forget to roll out a sleeping bag it doesn’t bother them. Content to be in the same space, sharing giggles and oxygen as they fall asleep and wake up in each others arms.
Will thinks that if he wasn’t already in love with Michael Wheeler this is when he would fall. The space between who they were and who they’re becoming. Almost adults with no clue what they want to do with the rest of their lives, only that they want to do it with each other.
Two more years pass like this and it becomes normal.
They found the diner the six of them would sit at every day, huddled around a table or booth. Dustin talking about his next plans to see Suzie, Lucas describing the other patrons to Max while she holds Jane’s hand in her lap, who’s smiling back at Lucas. Will and Mike pressed against each other from shoulder to ankle, even when they sit in seperate chairs.
The original party playing DnD in Mike’s basement, each sporting grins as they celebrate their victory. Will and Mike hugging over the table, even though their legs are already intertwined under it. Dustin and Lucas sleeping over, rolling their sleeping bags out across the floor of the basement as Will and Mike get dressed for sleep, because Will has a draw of clothes up in Mike’s room, and Mike has the same at Will’s.
No one ever talked about Will or Mike anymore, just Will&Mike. Not even Will and Mike talked about Will or Mike. They were a package deal in everything. And Will knew, somewhere in him, that they were more than friends. But he didn’t want to push. They knew they loved each other, it didn’t matter to Will in what way that was. It didn’t matter to him that they never spoke about it, that Mike never showed any indication of needing to talk about it.
And now, as they sit curled into each other on the couch in Mike’s basement, Will realises with shocking clarity.
“Mike,” He speak softly. Not wanting to break their bubble, but wanting to be heard from where his head rests on Mike’s shoulder.
Mike hums in response, the sound vibrating through both of them, at every point of contact which at this stage is pretty much their whole bodies.
“We’re different, aren’t we?” Of course he knows that they are, and he knows that Mike knows that they are, but he also knows that he needs to give Mike an out. Even if he knows that Mike won’t take it.
“Yeah, we are.” His voice is low and gentle, how his voice always is when it’s just them. Gentle and full. Full of love and adoration and with just a hint of a smile. A smile creeps onto Will’s face without his permission and he welcomes it. He can tell Mike knows what he’s trying to say but he lets Will take the lead, and Will falls even more in love with him for it.
“Mike,” He starts without fully knowing where the sentence is going to end, and not worrying where it will end either. He trusts his brain to think of something.
“We’re in love, aren’t we?” Because what else is there to say, really?
He realised it, as they were sat in silence, content with just being near one another. He’s realised that Mike’s in love with him too, and it seems like the most obvious thing in the world. And no one has ever said it, but it feels good to say it out loud, right. To breath life into those words after all the years they lay dormant, in wait. Will’s breath still catches, not quite ready to let itself go until he hears a reply.
“Yeah, Will, we are.” Mike breathes out, as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world. And the breath caught in Will’s throat comes out as a laugh, a quiet huff as if even his laughter knows not to break the peace surrounding them. Will reaches out to grab the hand that lay in Mike’s lap and holds it tight between both of his, as it squeezes right back. He feels Mike’s head shift from where it is on top of his only to press a long kiss to where it just was a second ago.
“We’re in love.” The way Mike says it is enough to break Will apart right there on that couch.
It’s not a question but it tilts up at the end, hopeful and honest. Like something he knows is true but he can’t quite wrap his head around. A fact that he once found so hard to believe but now welcomes into the storeroom of knowledge in his brain, if only to pull it out and gawk at it every once in a while. Not disbelieving that they are in love, but disbelieving that they get to be in love. After everything they’ve been through, while living where they do in the time they do. Despite it all they were able to fall in love with other, and just be.
“We’re in love.” Will echos, in the same tone as Mike because he can’t think of a better way to say it. His smile that never faded breaks into a grin as his pushes himself up to look at Mike. His eyes linger on the grin that perfectly matches his own as he meets his eyes, and suddenly all he can think about is the fact that people who are in love kiss. So he closes the gap and kisses him.
And it’s the easiest thing in the world.