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Mike and Will are in a familiar position, seated next to each other on the couch in Mike’s basement. What’s unfamiliar though, is the tension in the air. Because even now, weeks after promises to be best friends, there still hangs secrets between them. Secrets that, if shared, have the power to change everything.
Which is why Will has vowed that they will stay secrets.
And why Mike has promised himself to find the courage to share them.
___
Mike runs a hand through his hair before suggesting, “We should play a game.”
“I'm down. What game?” Will asks, not taking his attention off of the movie playing on the TV.
“Truth or dare”
Will lightly laughs, turning to look at Mike, “You know that's not usually a two-person game right?”
“Who says? We are two people,” Mike begins to argue.
“And we are going to play. Therefore, it is a two-person game.” Mike continues.
“That is some sound logic Wheeler” Will says.
“Thank you very much. And for that generous compliment, you get to go first” Mike says, punctuating the last word with a poke to Will’s chest.
“You’re too kind” Will says, placing a hand to his heart in fake sincerity.
Mike rolls his eyes playfully and finds the remote to turn the volume down enough that the movie they’ve seen 1,000 times over won’t be a distraction.
“Truth or dare” Will asks.
Mike briefly considers his options here. Of course, dare is relatively safe, when playing with the party Will has never dared anyone to do anything to crazy or dangerous. However, the real reason he suggested this game was to talk to Will. Which they have not been doing much of recently. And, truth be told, that might be mostly Mike’s fault. The point is, as of recently, they have been more like strangers than best friends. So, truth it is.
“Truth” Mike confidently answers.
“Umm, if you could move anywhere, where would you go?”
“I would stay right here” Mike responds, like it's the most obvious answer in the world.
“Hawkins?” Will questions.
“Well yes. Technically. But I more meant right here. Right now. With you” Mike says, playing with his nail beds and avoiding eye contact with Will.
Mike doesn’t really know why he said all that right off the bat, but he meant it. From here on out he does not want to be anywhere that Will is not. Even if that would mean staying in shitty Hawkins forever. He can only hope that Will doesn’t read too much into that answer.
Will avoids acknowledging the hope that arises from the implications of that sentence. And maneuvers himself so that he is facing Mike fully.
“What's so great about Hawkins?” Will asks.
“You're in it '' Mike responds genuinely, mirroring Will’s position so that they are directly across from each other.
“What if I left?” Will asks. Hypothetical and actual at the same time.
“You mean like you've already done once before,” Mike says with a frown.
“Well that wasn't my choice, I wasn't exactly thrilled about leaving you…guys, the party. But I'm just saying, I think if I stay in Hawkins until i die, I might be driven to insanity”
Mike nods in understanding and maybe agreement. “Where would you want to go?”
“I don't know. A city maybe.”
“Then I change my answer. If I could go anywhere. I would go wherever you were.”
Will looks up to look at Mike, and finds that Mike is already looking at him. They indulge in each other's stares for a few precious moments.
“Ok my turn” Mike says, moving on from the moment quickly.
“Truth or dare”
“Truth” Will says, taking a deep breath to shake the moment away.
Mike tries to ignore how rapidly his heart is beating when he asks the next question,
“Did you miss me while you were in Lenora?”
“Yes...a lot actually” Will responds honestly.
Miss actually doesn’t even begin to cover what he felt for Mike while he was gone. He yearned, he longed for, and he loved Mike. But telling Mike any of that risks throwing away a decade of friendship, so secrets they will stay.
“Truth or dare” Will says quickly, leaving no room for further questioning.
“Truth” Mike says.
“Did you miss me?” Will asks, emphasizing the last word.
He asks because he is honestly curious. But he also asks because part of him wants Mike to say no. And then maybe Will could stop holding on to false hope and finally let Mike go.
Mike takes a deep breath before responding, “tons.”
Again, like it’s the most obvious answer in the world.
Mike’s heart feels like it is going to fall out of his chest when Will says,
“You know, it didn't seem like you did. Quite the opposite actually.”
Will mumbles the last bit, not really wanting to confront Mike about this.
Mike frowns, “Well I did. More than I probably should've. I think that scared me a little. And that's why…why I didn't send you any letters.”
“It scares you?” Will questions with shock in his tone, making eye contact with Mike as he asks.
“Yeah I… I mean I wanted to reach out to you. I did. But I was worried that you would get weirded out if I sent too many, or was too clingy.”
“So you compromised by sending none at all?” Will asks with a forced laugh.
Honestly, Will can’t be too mad at Mike for this logic, because his thoughts kind of followed the same line of reasoning. When Mike didn’t call, he assumed that he didn’t want to talk. And when Mike didn’t return his letters he assumed he was being too clingy. So he stopped reaching out all together. But he never really considered that maybe Mike was going through the same thing.
“Hey, I know it sounds stupid, I know it is. But I thought you'd be better off without me anyway. By the time I worked up the courage to almost put a letter in the mail, I figured you had already replaced me with someone else. So I didn’t even bother.” Mike says with a frown.
“Mike, I didn't, and could never, replace you. You’ll always be my best friend.” Will says.
Will fails to mention that he would actually like to be more than just best friends. But, that conversation may be for another time.
“Well, that's good. ‘Cause you’ll always be my best friend too.” Mike states with a wide smile.
“Good” Will agrees with a smile.
A beat passes before Mike asks again “Truth or dare?”
Will is feeling kind of vulnerable talking about their year apart. So he decides that it is time to see what dares Mike may have up his sleeve.
“Dare”
“I dare you to……wait can you do truth again?” Mike asks with a nervous laugh.
“I mean, I guess. Why?”
“Cause I have a question I want to ask. Plus I can't think of any dares.” Mike shrugs.
“Ok fine. Truth.” Will responds with a sigh.
“Do you have a crush on anyone?”
That question felt way too thought out for Will's liking. Like Mike had been waiting all night, or longer, to ask him that question. Which is terrible, because Will has a feeling that Mike would hate the answer.
“Maybe” Will responds.
“Who?”
“That's two questions, Mike.” Will jokingly scolds.
“Fine” Mike pouts.
“Truth or dare?” Will asks
“Truth”
“Do you have a crush on anyone?” Will asks, with an over-the-top teasing tone in his voice.
“Yes,” Mike responds. So quietly that Will barely registers the word.
Will’s mouth drops open.
Will definitely did not expect that answer. Sure, Mike and El are broken up. But it hasn't been that long, so with everything going on a new girl is the last thing Will thought would be on Mike's mind. Which maybe is a bit hypocritical of Will. Since ALL that is on his mind lately is love.
“Truth or dare” Mike asks quickly, avoiding further questions.
“Truth”
“Who?” Mike asks. Eager to return back to his previous question.
A tense beat.
Will really does not want to answer that question.
“Is it a girl?” Mike says, barely above a whisper.
Will awkwardly avoids eye contact.
Mike is getting dangerously close to something close to the truth. There is no good way to answer this question without lying, and not answering at all is speaking volumes.
“It's ok if it's not” Mike finally speaks.
Will swallows and looks back up to make eye contact with Mike. Mike looks like he means what he just said, that it really is ok. At this point, Will is done lying to Mike. They just got their friendship back onto thicker ground. He is not about to tear that all down in some sort of selfish act of protection.
“It's not a girl,” Will says quickly.
“Truth or dare” Will asks quickly
“Truth”
Will doesn't have it in him to ignore the fact that Mike Wheeler has a crush. So further interrogation it is.
“Who do you have a crush on?”
“Can I just give you a hint?” Mike asks.
And for the first time in a long time, when Will searches Mike's gaze, he looks scared. Scared to answer Will's seemingly harmless and childish question.
“Sure” Will responds, trying his best to hide the desperation for an answer in his voice.
“I'm not telling you his name” He mumbles.
The tension in the room grows.
In six words Mike just revealed nothing at all, but also everything. Mike likes boys, Mike likes a boy. Will can’t decide if it’s worse now. Now that Will has a chance with Mike but also can never ever have him.
“Truth or dare” Mike asks.
“Truth”
“Does your crush live in Hawkins or Leonora?”
“Hawkins” Will responds.
Mike nods at that answer, appearing to be deep in thought. Probably doing a puzzle in his head trying to narrow down who Will’s crush could be. Little does he know, Will is doing the exact same thing.
“Truth or dare” Will asks.
“Truth”
“I assume your crush also lives in Hawkins, right?” Will asks.
“He used to. Then he moved away.”
Will’s breath hitches.
“Truth or dare” Mike asks.
Will is starting to hate this game. Because, what the fuck?
“Dare,” Will says- trying to steer this conversation away from whatever this is.
“I dare you to tell your crush how you feel,” Mike says barely over a whisper.
Ok, so this conversation just got worse. Because Mike is looking at him like he knows something, or is just really confident in his guesses. Will’s not sure if he expects him to confess his love to Mike right now, or if he expects Will to pick up the phone and call some dude he “has a crush on”. He settles for avoiding the dare.
“I don't think that's a very good idea, Mike.”
“Why not? I bet he feels the same.” Mike says, voice steady but Will can hear his heart beating out of his chest all the way across the couch.
If only Mike knew that he was talking about himself.
“I don't think he does,” Will says, his breathing getting shaky.
“You have to be confident, Will. Be brave.”
Will shakes his head, fighting off tear-filled eyes.
“Tell him,” Mike urges.
Bringing his pointer finger to his chest and pointing to himself, “Tell. Him.” He repeats.
So it’s obvious now. Mike knows, and he’s not running away. In fact, he’s welcoming and encouraging it. Again, what the fuck.
“I don't know how to say this,” Will says, tears threatening to escape.
“Just try your best”
Mike puts a hand on Will’s thigh.
Will looks at it then looks back up to Mike's face nervously.
“Do you remember Halloween when I got that feeling like in between the view master slides?”
“Of course.”
“You took me back to your house. And you didn't just listen to me. You heard me, and you understood, and you cared.” Will begins to ramble.
“It was at that moment that I knew I had the best best friend in the whole world.”
Will breathes a shaky breath, trying to compose himself.
“Then the snowball. Eighth grade.”
“I wanted to dance with you so bad. You looked so good in your suit, all dressed up. And…and your smile lit up the room that night.”
“And it was at that moment that I knew I liked you more than friends should like their friends. That I had a crush on you.”
Will feels a tear roll down his cheek.
“And do you remember when I got mad that you and Lucas wouldn't play dnd with me? And I ran off.”
“Unfortunately,” Mike says with a frown.
“Well, when you told me that it wasn't my fault that I didn't like girls. I realized that nothing you would ever do, or anything you could ever say, would ever change how I… how I felt about you.”
“I knew at that moment that I was in love with you. And was never getting over you.”
“You were in love with me?” Mike asks, slightly in awe.
“Still am.” Will laughs through the tears starting to slowly stream down his face.
Mike just stares at Will, struggling to find the right words to say. Or any words for that matter. He opens his mouth to say something and closes it again.
“So just to be clear,” Mike finally says.
“I have a crush on you as well.” He says with a smirk.
Will blushes and buries his head in his hands.
Mike places his finger on Will’s chin and brings Will’s face back up to look at him. Will’s hands are stained with tears but he looks happy.
“I was stupid not to realize it until after you left for Leonora,” Mike says.
“And I hated myself for it every day until you came back”
“But it's true, I love you, Will.”
“Truth or dare?” Will asks.
Mike looks at him confused.
Will leans in to whisper in Mike’s ear
“Say dare”
“Dare”
“I dare you to kiss me”
Mike smiles nervously, and slowly leans towards Will.
“Are you sure?” Mike asks.
“I’ve literally never been more sure about anything in my life.” Will flirts.
“Well in that case…” Mike whispers before leaning in to connect their lips.
And all their walls built of secrets come crashing down when they kiss. Everything that was left unsaid for so long is now out in the open, and it feels fucking perfect.
They pull away from the kiss as quickly as it started. Now just staring into each other's eyes with matching smiles.