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The basement is warm and loud, thick with the smell of pizza grease and old carpet. Dice clatter across the table every few seconds, mixing with Dustin’s dramatic groans and Lucas arguing over story choices.
Mike’s sitting at the head of the table, elbows planted down as he flips through his notes, fully locked into DM mode—though every so often his focus slips just slightly when his eyes land across the table.
On Will.
His boyfriend, his secret boyfriend.
Who absolutely should not be looking at him like that in front of everyone.
“Alright,” Mike says, forcing himself back into the story. “The final door creaks open. Inside—”
“Treasure,” Dustin says immediately.
“There is not automatically treasure.”
“There’s always treasure,” Lucas argues.
Will laughs softly under his breath, curled into his chair across from Mike like he’s got nowhere else to be. His character sheet is half-covered in doodles, and he spins a die between his fingers with infuriating ease, like the whole campaign can wait on him if it wants to.
Mike’s eyes drift—too naturally, too often—to his hands.
To the way the dice roll against his fingertips.
Up to his neck when he tilts his head back slightly.
Then—without meaning to—to his mouth.
Will catches him looking.
Of course he does.
Mikes eyes drop to the sheet infront of him
For half a second, mike forgets what he’s saying. Again.
They’ve talked about this—no obvious stuff in front of the others. Not yet. Not when Dustin would explode on impact and Lucas would never let it go.
Still.
“Inside,” he continues quickly, “you see darkness. And… uh…”
Under the table, something brushes his foot.
Mike tenses.
Will’s foot.
On accident.....Probably.
Both of them freeze for half a second in the way they’ve gotten very good at pretending is coincidence.
Mike clears his throat. “And there’s… a presence. Something powerful watching you.”
Will shifts slightly in his seat.
Rubbing his sock against his foot
Mike’s words almost trip over themselves. “It’s standing at the end of the chamber and—”
Will slowly drags his foot against Mike’s ankle.
Very deliberate.
Absolutely not an accident.
Mike’s brain short-circuits.
Across from him, Will looks perfectly normal. Calm. Relaxed. Like he isn’t actively testing how long Mike can function in public.
But his eyes are bright.
Mischievous.
Like he knows exactly what he’s doing to him.
Lucas leans forward. “Do we roll perception or what?”
“Yes,” Mike says too fast. “Everybody roll perception.”
Dice hit the table.
Underneath it, Will nudges closer again.
His socked foot slides lightly up against Mike’s pant leg.
Mike nearly drops his notes.
~This is so unfair.~ he thinks
They agreed: no obvious flirting during game night.
Will is clearly interpreting that rule creatively.
Mike swallows hard.
“…Uh,” he continues weakly, staring down at his papers like they personally betrayed him. “You also notice…”
Will presses his foot more firmly against his shin.
Mike’s face goes red instantly.
Dustin squints. “Dude, are you okay?”
Mike straightens too fast. “Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be okay?”
“You sound weird.”
“I do not sound weird.”
Will’s mouth twitches.
Mike finally makes the mistake of looking up.
Will is already watching him.
Completely calm.
Completely unbothered.
his boyfriend acting like this in public is funny specifically because Mike can’t react.
Under the table, Will slowly hooks his foot around Mike’s ankle.
Mike forgets how to breathe.
“Will,” Mike mouths silently, barely moving his lips.
Will tilts his head. Innocent.
“Hm?”Lucas narrows his eyes. “Why are you two acting weird?”
“We’re not,” Mike says immediately.
At the exact same moment, Will’s foot slides higher again.
Mike physically chokes on air.
Will smiles.
Tiny.
Dangerous.
Like he’s doing this on purpose because he knows Mike can’t do anything about it here.
Mike grabs his DM notes like they’re a lifeline. “A-anyway,” he stammers, voice cracking horribly, “you see—”
Will’s foot traces slowly along his calf.
Mike jerks under the table and tries to shove him away with his own foot, but Will just presses closer again like he’s enjoying this.
Oh, he is definitely enjoying this.
Mike’s face burns hot enough to melt through the table.
“Uh—the creature in the chamber—”
Without looking away from his notes, Mike kicks hard under the table.
“OW—!”
Dustin shoots upright so fast his dice scatter across the table. “WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!”
The entire basement goes dead silent.
Mike freezes in horror.
“…What?” Mike says, way too innocent.
“You just kicked me!” Dustin grabs his shin, glaring. “Under the table! Full force!”
“I did not—why would I kick you?!”
“I don’t know, Mike, maybe because you’re losing your mind as a Dunge—”
“I am not losing my mind!”
Across from him, Will bites down hard on his lip, shoulders trembling with suppressed laughter.
Lucas stares at Mike. “Did you just kick Dustin?!”
“I thought it was—” Mike stops himself so abruptly it’s painful.
Will’s head ducks lower.
Dustin clutches his shin. “You thought it was what?!”
Mike looks like he’s seconds away from spontaneously combusting.
Across the table, Will is suddenly very, very focused on his dice. He picks one up, turning it between his fingers with extreme concentration while his shoulders shake slightly.
Lucas’ eyes flick between them.
Then widen.
“…Wait.”
Mike snaps his head toward him instantly.
Don’t.
Lucas’ grin spreads slowly. “Oh my god.”
Dustin squints. “What? What oh my god?”
“No—nothing,” Mike says way too fast. “Can we just keep playing?”
Will finally risks a glance up.
His cheeks are pink now, but his eyes are bright with barely-contained amusement.
Under the table, his foot finds Mike’s again.
Careful this time.
Intentional.
A slow press against Mike’s ankle like a secret.
Mike nearly forgets how words work.
“You—uh—you rolled perception,” he manages weakly, staring at his notes like they’re written in another language.
Dustin is still rubbing his leg. “I’m telling you, something weird is going on.”
“Yeah,” Lucas says, leaning back with a smug grin. “Real mysterious.”
Mike kicks him this time.
Lucas yelps. “OW—okay, okay!”
Will finally breaks, a quiet laugh slipping out before he can stop it.
Mike hears it and immediately loses the ability to be annoyed anymore.
Which honestly just makes everything worse.
After that, the campaign completely falls apart.
Mike gets through it somehow, but barely.
Every time he looks up, Will’s already looking at him.
Every time their feet touch under the table, Mike forgets what he was saying mid-sentence.
At one point Dustin has to remind him whose turn it is.
Twice.
By the end of the night, Mike’s notes are a mess, Lucas looks unbearably smug, and Will seems way too pleased with himself.
“Alright,” Mike says finally, voice hoarse from talking for hours. “The session’s over before all of you get murdered.”
“We were winning,” Dustin argues.
“You were actively dying.”
“That’s subjective.”
The boys gather their stuff, shoving dice into bags and crumpling up snack wrappers. Chairs scrape loudly against the basement floor as they head upstairs.
Mike lingers behind for half a second, stuffing papers together messily.
Will pauses at the bottom of the stairs, waiting for him.
Mike looks up.
Will’s expression is softer now. Less teasing.
Still warm enough to make Mike’s stomach flip.
Then Dustin barrels between them yelling, “I CALL FIRST SODA,” and ruins the moment instantly.
By the time they reach the kitchen, they’re greeted by Max and Jane sprawled across the couch.
Max has a comic book spread across her lap, one leg hanging over the arm of the couch.
Jane’s upside down beside her, lazily eating chips straight from the bag while static hums softly from the TV.
The boys barely make it into the living room before both girls look up at the exact same time.
Jane blinks once. “Is it hot downstairs?”
“What?” Dustin says immediately, already reaching for the chips. “What do you mean?”
Jane points vaguely toward Mike. “Why does he look like that?”
Mike nearly chokes. “Like what?”
“Like tomato,” Max says flatly.
Lucas instantly snorts.
Mike whips around to glare at him with genuine betrayal.
Across the room, Will suddenly becomes very interested in taking off his jacket.
Dustin points at Mike accusingly. “HE KICKED ME.”
Jane gasps softly. “Why?”
“That’s what I’ve been asking!”
Lucas is fully laughing now. “You guys are seriously gonna regret skipping this campaign. You missed everything.”
Mike’s eyes widen in horror. “Lucas—”
Too late.
Max slowly lowers her comic. “Wait. Wait, wait, wait.”
Will’s ears turn pink.
Jane’s gaze moves carefully between Mike and Will, catching the way Mike refuses to look up and the way Will keeps hiding a smile every two seconds.
Then realization clicks into place.
“Oh,” Jane says quietly.
Mike feels immediate dread. “Don’t say ‘oh’.”
Jane grins.
Max grins harder.
Mike briefly considers moving to another country
“I’m gonna go get my stuff,” Will mumbles suddenly.
Without waiting for a response, Will slips out of the living room and disappears down the hallway toward the bedrooms.
The second he’s gone, Lucas absolutely loses it.
“Oh my god,” he wheezes, doubled over laughing. “Mike was DYING downstairs.”
“I was not.”
“You literally forgot the monster’s name.”
“That happened one time.”
“Three times,” Dustin corrects immediately.
Mike points at him furiously. “You don’t even know what’s happening!”
“I know you assaulted me!”
Max looks delighted now, setting her comic aside completely. “Okay, somebody start explaining right now.”
Jane’s still staring thoughtfully toward the hallway where Will disappeared.
Then she looks back at Mike.
Very innocently.
“…Did Will make Mike nervous?”
Mike makes the most horrible strangled sound any of them have ever heard
Dustin blinks. “What do you mean?”
Mike goes completely rigid.
Lucas looks seconds away from passing out laughing.
Max’s eyes widen. “OH my god.”
“I NEED THE BATHROOM,” Mike suddenly blurts.
Before anyone can respond, he turns and speed-walks down the hallway like the house is on fire.
“You know the bathroom’s the other way, right?” Lucas calls after him.
Mike ignores him completely.
He keeps going straight down the hall, reaches his bedroom, and practically throws himself inside before slamming the door shut behind him.
For one glorious second, there’s silence.
Then—
“Mike?”
Mike nearly jumps out of his skin, shrieking—way too loud, way too embarrassing for the size of the room.
He spins around so fast he almost eats the floor. “WILL?! What are you doing here?!”
Will is just standing there beside the bed, backpack half-unzipped,
He blinks slowly. “Getting my stuff?”
He nods toward the scattered clothes, and comics still strewn across the room.
Right.
Because he slept over.
Mike’s brain is officially gone.
“Oh,” he says weakly.
Will watches him for a second like he’s trying very hard not to smile again.
Outside the bedroom, muffled laughter breaks out from the living room like a wave crashing through the walls.
Mike groans and drops face-first onto the bed. “I’m never going back out there.”
Will snorts softly.
Mike turns his head just enough to glare at him. “This is your fault.”
“My fault?” Will repeats, innocent, adjusting the strap of his bag.
“You started the whole thing.”
Will’s cheeks tint pink, but his expression stays way too satisfied. “You kicked Dustin.”
“I was aiming for you!”
“That honestly makes it worse.”
Mike lets out a long, defeated noise into his pillow.
Will laughs again—quiet, warm, impossible to ignore.
Mike hates how much he likes it.
The mattress dips as Will sits down beside him.
“Hey,” he says more softly now.
Mike peeks up.
Will isn’t teasing anymore. Just looking at him like he’s trying to figure him out.
“I’m sorry for ruining the campaign,” he says a little quieter. Then, after a beat: “but you looked really serious.”
He reaches out without really thinking, gently brushing a strand of hair back from Mike’s forehead like it’s the most natural thing in the world.
“…It was cute.”
Silence.
Mike just stares at him.
Completely frozen.
Like his brain has officially left the building and is not planning to come back.
Then, all at once, his entire face turns bright red.
He immediately yanks the pillow back over his head like it can shield him from reality. “Oh my god,” he groans. “You’re evil.”
Will laughs softly, easing down onto the bed beside him, lying down close to him
“Sorry,” he says, still smiling.
Mike shifts under the pillow just slightly, peeking out at him, his eyes go to wills lips without meaning to.
“It’s fine…” he mutters.
There’s a beat where neither of them moves.
The noise from the other room feels far away now—muted laughter, distant teasing—but in here it’s quiet in a different way. Smaller. Softer.
Will turns his head to look at him. Hands reaching out to touch his face
Mike doesn’t look away this time.
“…You’re still red,” Will points out gently
Mike doesn’t even think about it.
He just stares at Will—at his eyes, at his mouth, at the way he’s still smiling like this is somehow okay
Will’s thumb brushes lightly along Mike’s cheek before he can second-guess himself.
Soft.
Careful.
Like touching something fragile.
Mike’s breath catches so hard it’s almost embarrassing.
The pillow slips lower down his face, forgotten completely now, and Will can see every bit of panic and affection fighting for control inside him at once.
“You’re staring again,” Will murmurs.
Mike swallows.
“I can’t help it.”
The words come out quiet. Honest enough that they both freeze for a second afterward.
Will’s expression shifts—something smaller, softer.
“Oh.”
Mike looks like he wants to take it back immediately after saying it, eyes widening a little.
“I mean— not like— I just—”
Will laughs under his breath, not mean, not teasing. Just fond.
“I know what you meant.”
That somehow makes Mike even redder.
“ughhh,” he mutters weakly. “why iam I so bad at this”
Will’s face softens instantly at that.
The teasing disappears completely.
“Mike,” he says again, quieter this time.
Mike’s eyes stay fixed stubbornly on the pillow instead of him.
“I mean seriously,” he rushes out, words tangling together now that they’ve started. “I can’t even look at you for more than like ten seconds without freaking out, and I say weird stuff, and I keep staring at your mouth like an idiot, and—”
Will reaches up and gently nudges the pillow down enough so he can actually see him.
“And I’m pretty sure everyone knows,” Mike finishes miserably.
There’s a small pause.
Then Will smiles.
Not smug.
Not surprised.
Just warm.
“Yeah,” he says softly. “I think they probably do.”
Mike looks horrified.
“Oh my god.”
“But,” Will continues before he can spiral any further, fingers still resting lightly against his cheek, “I don’t think anyone cares as much as you think they do.”
Mike groans dramatically and drags both hands over his face.“Lucas, Jane, and max definitely know. Your mom probably knows. The government might know, the only person who doesn't know is probably Dustin”
That gets a real laugh out of Will.
“The government?”
“My thoughts are all over the place ,I feel like I'm going crazy"
“You are not.”
“I’m literally in love with you, Will, I haven’t had a normal thought in like six months.”
The second the words leave his mouth,
Mike freezes.
Dead still.
Not awkward....Just stunned.
Mike’s face drains of color for half a second before all the heat comes rushing back twice as hard.
His eyes lock onto Will’s immediately, wide with panic.
Like he’s waiting for the world to end.
Will doesn’t move.
Doesn’t laugh.
Doesn’t look away.
His hand is still cupping Mike’s face, thumb resting just below his cheekbone, and Mike suddenly seems hyperaware of every single place they’re touching.
Outside the bedroom, someone shouts about pizza rolls burning.
Neither of them even blinks.
Mike opens his mouth.
Closes it again.
“…I,” he starts faintly. “Wow.”
Will’s heart is pounding so hard he’s pretty sure Mike can hear it.
Mike lets out one broken little laugh that sounds dangerously close to panic.
“goddamnit,” he whispers rapidly. “i just can keep my fucking mouth shut! Well I'm going to go die now"
Before he can pull away, Will’s fingers tighten slightly against his cheek.
“Don’t.”
Mike stops immediately.
Will swallows hard.
His voice comes out softer than before.
“You mean it?”
Mike stares at him for a second like that somehow might be a trick question.
Then his expression crumples into something painfully honest.
“Yeah,” he admits quietly.
No joke this time.
No rambling.
Just the truth.
“Yeah. I do.”
Will’s breath catches.
Mike’s eyes flick away for only a second before forcing themselves back.
“I know it’s probably too much,” he says quickly, nerves spilling out all over again now that he’s started. “And I know I’m making this weird, and you don’t have to say anything, I just—”
Will kisses him before he can keep going.
Soft.
Quick.
Barely there.
But enough to steal the rest of the sentence right out of Mike’s mouth.
Mike freezes so completely Will almost pulls back in panic—
Then Mike makes this tiny stunned sound and grabs the front of Will’s shirt with both hands like he needs something solid to hold onto. Mike’s hand tightens at his jaw, not letting him go, like he’s making up for every time he didn’t do this when he wanted to.
When Will finally pulls back, they’re both breathing a little unevenly.
Mike just stares at him.
Actually stares.
“…Oh,” he says weakly.
Will laughs once under his breath, forehead resting lightly against Mike’s.
“Yeah,” he whispers.
Mike’s grip tightens in his shirt.
“You kissed me.”
“I did.”
“You actually kissed me.”
Will smiles helplessly.
“You said you loved me, Mike. What was I supposed to do?”
Mike opens his mouth.
Nothing comes out.
His brain looks completely offline.
Will can actually see it happening in real time—the panic, the disbelief, the fact that Mike’s trying desperately to process what just happened and failing spectacularly.
“You—” Mike starts.
Stops.
Tries again.
“You kissed me.”
“I know.”
“No, but like—” Mike’s voice cracks a little. “You kissed me.”
Will’s helpless smile only gets softer.
“Yeah.”
Mike stares at him another second, eyes huge and glassy with something dangerously close to overwhelmed.
Then, very suddenly, he yanks Will back toward him by the shirt.
The second kiss is messier.
Not because Mike doesn’t care—
Because he cares too much.
It’s clumsy and desperate in that nervous teenage way, like he’s been holding it in for months and the second he got permission he forgot how to breathe normally.
Will makes this tiny surprised noise against his mouth before melting into it immediately.
Mike’s hand slides from Will’s shirt up to his jaw, fingers shaky where they press against his face.
Holding him there.
Like he’s terrified Will might disappear if he lets go.
Will kisses him back softer this time, slower, trying to calm the frantic energy buzzing through Mike’s entire body.
Mike still trembles a little anyway.
When they finally pull apart again, Mike keeps his forehead pressed against Will’s like he physically cannot move farther away now.
His breathing is completely wrecked.
“…Holy shit,” he whispers.
Will laughs quietly, cheeks pink now too.
“Yeah.”
Mike lets out another disbelieving laugh, eyes squeezed shut.
“You like me back.”
“ I’m literally kissing you, Mike... were dating!”
“I know, but I need verbal confirmation because I’m having a medical emergency.”
That earns a real laugh from Will.
“Yes,” he says warmly. “I like you back.”
Mike makes a strangled sound somewhere between joy and embarrassment and immediately hides his face against Will’s shoulder.
“Oh my god,” he mumbles into his shirt. “I’m never recovering from this.”
Will’s shoulders shake with quiet laughter beneath him.
“I can live with that,” he murmurs.
Mike groans dramatically into his shoulder. “No, you don’t understand. I’m actually going to think about this moment every day for the rest of my life.”
“You already think about everything for the rest of your life.”
“…That’s true.”
Will smiles and carefully slides a hand up into Mike’s hair again.
This time Mike leans into it instantly.
Automatic.
Like he’s been wanting this so long his body doesn’t even hesitate anymore.
The realization seems to hit him a second later.
His entire body goes still.
“Oh my god,” he whispers into Will’s shirt.
“What now?”
“i think I’m clingy.”
Will blinks once. “Mike.”
“No, seriously, this is bad. I’m already emotionally dependent on you.”
“You were emotionally dependent on me before we kissed.”
“…Fair.”
Will laughs softly again, and Mike finally lifts his head just enough to look at him.
Close up like this, Will can see every tiny shift in his expression.
The flushed cheeks.
The nervousness still lingering around the edges.
But underneath all of it—
Happiness.
Real happiness.
It makes Will’s chest ache so hard it almost hurts.
Mike notices him staring and immediately gets flustered again.
“What,” he says defensively.
“Nothing.” will says smiling" you kinda look like a puppy when you look at me like that"
Mike blushes instantly.
“What does that even mean,” he mumbles, already hiding part of his face back in the pillow even though it clearly isn’t working anymore.
Will just keeps smiling at him.
“That thing you do with your eyes.”
Mike squints suspiciously. “That was not an explanation.”
“You get all soft-looking,” Will says quietly. “Like you’re excited someone came home.”
Mike makes the most offended noise possible.
“Oh my god.”
“And you tilt your head sometimes.”
“Will.”
“And when you’re happy you kinda—”
“Will,” Mike repeats, voice cracking this time from embarrassment.
Will laughs softly, warm and helpless and completely gone over him.
Mike stares at him for half a second like he doesn’t know what to do with that sound.
Will bites back another smile.
“You’re kinda acting like one.”
Mike points at him accusingly. “See? Mean. You’re mean to me immediately after kissing me.”
“You kissed me back.”
“Yeah, because apparently I’ve been in love with you since the invention of gravity.”
Will laughs so suddenly he nearly folds in half.
Mike looks personally offended by how hard he’s laughing.
“I hate that you think I’m funny.”
“I don’t think you’re funny,” Will says, still laughing a little. “You just are.”
Mike opens his mouth to argue—
Then freezes as voices get louder outside the bedroom.
Footsteps.
Fast ones.
“Oh no,” Mike breathes.
Will barely has time to turn his head before the door slams open.
Lucas stops dead in the doorway.
Max crashes into his shoulder from behind. “Why did you sto—”
She stops too.
Silence.
Mike and Will are still tangled together on the bed.
Mike’s hand still on Will’s face.
Nobody moves.
Then Lucas slowly points at them.
“I KNEW IT.”
Mike practically launches himself off the bed.“It’s not what it looks like!!”
Will, still sitting there flushed and disheveled, stares at him in disbelief.
“Mike—”
Max raises an eyebrow so hard it nearly disappears into her hairline.
“Really?” she asks flatly.
Mike gestures wildly between himself and Will like maybe enough hand motions will create a believable explanation out of thin air.
“We were just— talking!”
Lucas points aggressively at them again. “Your hand was on his FACE.”
“People touch faces, Lucas!”
“Not like that they don’t!”
Will finally buries his face in his hands, shoulders shaking with helpless laughter.
Mike looks betrayed immediately. “Stop laughing, you’re supposed to help me.”
Before Will can answer, another voice cuts in from the hallway.
“we save the pi-.”
Everyone turns.
Jane is standing behind Max, blinking at the scene in front of her.
Mike still red-faced and panicking.
Will sitting on the bed smiling like he physically cannot stop.
Lucas vibrating with the energy of someone who’s just won a bet.
Jane tilts her head slightly.
“…That’s it?”
Silence.
Mike stares at her. “THAT’S your reaction?!”
Jane shrugs. “you guys are not that sneaky"
Max immediately points at her. “THANK YOU.”
“I said that!” Lucas adds.
Will laughs harder, fully covering his face now.
Mike looks around the room like he’s being personally attacked from every direction.
“No one said anything!”
“Because we thought you knew,” Max says.
“I DIDN’T KNOW I WAS THAT OBVIOUS.”
" Oh please, dont make me laugh" max snorts
Will actually wheezes laughing at that.
Mike turns toward him in horror. “Why would you let me live like this?”
Will lowers his hands just enough to grin at him, cheeks pink and eyes bright.
“Because,” he says warmly, “it was kinda cute.”
Mike makes a wounded noise and immediately drops face-first back onto the bed beside him.
Dustin’s voice echoes down the hallway like it’s completely unrelated to anything happening in this room.
“The pizza rolls are saved!”
“DUSTIN,” Lucas yells, not looking away from the bed, “READ THE ROOM!”
Dustin appears in the doorway a second later anyway, holding a tray like he’s just completed a heroic quest. “What room? I was saving dinner.”
His eyes land on Mike and Will.
Mike is still face-down in the bed like he has given up on life.
Will is sitting beside him, still smiling too much, trying very hard not to laugh again.
Max is looking deeply satisfied.
Jane is calmly observing like this is mildly interesting but not new information.
Dustin slowly lowers the tray.
“…holy shit do you guys like each other?!.”
The entire room goes still for half a second.
Even Mike lifts his head again.
Slowly.
Like he cannot believe Dustin just said that out loud with his full chest.
“…What,” Mike says flatly.
Dustin looks around the room, completely serious. “I mean— I thought we were joking. Like a running joke. Like a ‘haha Mike is weird around Will’ thing.”
Max puts a hand over her mouth like she’s trying not to laugh too hard.
Lucas is failing.
Jane just nods once, like, yes, finally someone said it correctly.
Will, unfortunately, is gone.
He’s laughing into his hand again, shoulders shaking.
Mike points weakly at him. “Stop encouraging him.”
“I’m not encouraging anything,” Will manages between laughs. “I’m just— I’m just here.”
Dustin still looks genuinely shocked. “So you DO like each other?”
Silence again.
This time it’s heavier.
Mike sits up a little more slowly.
Looks at Will.
Will looks back at him, smile fading into something softer now. Something real again.
Mike swallows.
“…Yeah,” he says quietly.
No panic this time.
No joke.
Just the truth, finally sitting in the open air of the room like it belongs there.
Will’s expression shifts instantly.
Warm.
Relieved.
Happy in a way that looks like it’s been waiting a long time to exist.
Dustin blinks.
Then slowly turns to Lucas.
“…I owe you like twenty dollars.”