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“Don’t pack sunscreen,” Will tells Mike on the phone. “I’m bringing a bottle that’s bigger than that shampoo your mom had in the basement bathroom.”
Mike chuckles softly, and he sounds sleepy.
“Mike. You are supposed to be packing.”
“I am totally packing.”
“I can tell you’re in bed. You’re going to fall asleep.”
“My flight isn’t until nine tomorrow. I’ll wake up at eight, I’ll have plenty of time to pack in the morning.”
Will straightens and he knows Mike is purposely messing with him, but it still works. “You stress me out.”
“I bet you I’ll make it to the beach house before you.”
“I’m getting off the phone.”
“No, no. I’ll pack.” Mike makes a soft grunt as he gets up and Will bites a smile. He’s desperately trying not to find the sound cute.
“It was your idea to pack together over the phone,” Will says.
“I know. Oh shit.” There’s a sound of drawers opening and shutting. “All my clothes are dirty. Is there a wash machine there?”
“I have no idea.” Will pinches the bridge of his nose. “You really have no clean clothes?”
“It will be fine. The laundry mat is open 24/7.”
“You were literally falling asleep on the phone five minutes ago. You’re really going to the laundry mat now? It’s almost ten.”
“Ten is like dinner time in New York, isn’t it?”
“Not when you have to wake up for an early flight.”
“Nine is not that early.”
“You have to be at the airport before 8. It takes an hour to get there from your apartment. And taxis arrive late, so I would have them aim to be at your apartment at…6:30. Which means you should wake up at 5.”
“No.”
“No?”
“No.”
Will huffs.
“Oh! I’ll just drive to my parents' house to wash my clothes. It will save me a quarter, and I could crash on their couch. And then my dad can just drive me to the airport, so it will save money on a taxi. And he’ll make sure I’m not late.”
“You’re going to drive down to Hawkins right now, which will take the same amount of time washing your clothes at the laundry mat will… All to save, what? Twenty bucks? I’ll give you twenty bucks to not to do that plan.”
“Okay, Mr. Money. You owe me, then. I have to get off the phone now. Are you still packing?”
Will looks over at his packed duffle bag. “Yes.”
“Liar. See you soon.”
Will smiles. “See you soon.”
The week in Monterey, California has been a vacation planned by the Party for over a year. Ever since last summer’s camping trip when the week ended with two many mosquito bites and Dustin discovered a leach stuck on him from their late-night skinny dipping in the lake.
It had been a fun week but most agreed that the next Party’s trip should be more relaxing. And when Max’s boss offered her California beach house to her and Lucas, it sparked many talks which turned to plans and now Will is on a van to Max’s boss’ beach house.
Will has spent the past day at the airport or on a plane thanks to his flight being canceled and then his second flight being delayed. He’s changed his Walkman’s batteries twice and he’s listening to the Cure when the van stops abruptly.
Will yanks off his headphones and by the patient but expectant look on his driver’s face, he realizes he’s here. He steps out into the chilly wind and the driver takes off the second Will slides the van door shut.
A little taken aback, Will faces the blue and yellow house. It’s part of a long line of houses with barely any yard. Will wasn’t sure why, but he was expecting an isolated house on a beach with no neighbors. It’s also not exactly on the beach, but it is within walking distance and it faces the ocean that he would be able to see if only the house in front of it wasn’t two stories tall.
He hangs his duffle bag over his shoulder while he hikes up his other heavy bag and steps to the house he’ll be staying at for the next week with his friends.
And the house…is small even from the outside and Will can’t imagine all six of them fitting here, but he thinks maybe it will have more space on the inside. He finds the key box empty so he knocks, but nobody answers.
He sets his bags down on the sandy porch and rings the doorbell. He turns to look at the ocean and the people walking along the rocky beach.
“I told you I would get here first,” Mike says, one eye shut as he leans against the door frame, looking sleepy and adorable.
Will rolls his eyes, tapping into his not-in-love-with-his-best-friend casual self and steps in.
“This place is…” Will looks around the small living room and the small couch and the small kitchen. It’s not too different from how his first studio apartment is designed with no walls between the rooms.
“Small. Not sure how everyone is going to fit here.”
“They aren’t here yet?” Will asks.
Mike looks at the front door like it just occurred to him that they should be here by now considering how it’s the afternoon after everyone was supposed to arrive.
“Is there a phone?”
“No, actually. I mean there is, but it doesn’t work.” Mike rounds the kitchen counter and pulls out the chewed up cord. “Also, we might have rats.”
Will makes a face.
“Hey.”
“Hey?” Will echoes, amused.
“It’s been awhile.”
“Hasn’t been that long,” Will says. “You were just in New York.”
“That was in April,” Mike points out. “I was half asleep answering the door but…” Mike holds out his arms. “Proper hello.”
“You’re so weird,” Will says, and he doesn’t really think Mike is weird, but Will is starting to feel his cheeks warm and considering he’s actually cold, he knows he’s deflecting.
He steps into Mike’s arms and pretends it doesn’t feel like home.
Mike’s arms tighten around Will and Will expects the hug to end but it doesn’t. They stay holding each other and Will does feel those weeks apart in their embrace. They talk nearly every night since Mike claimed talking to Will puts him to sleep. They know everything about each other despite Mike living in Indiana and Will living in New York since high school graduation. And in their distance apart, they managed to grow to be even closer friends.
But nothing more, and at the age of twenty-five, Will has gotten very good at managing his attraction, his crush, his love toward Mike.
But then Mike’s hand shifts down Will’s back and it stirs something low in Will’s belly so he steps out of the hug.
“Which room is ours?” There is only three rooms in the small beach house and Will and Mike were meant to share. Jane and Dustin had one room while Lucas and Max had the other.
“I just picked the first one I could find. I was seriously dead tired when I got here.”
“When did you get here?”
Mike checks his watch. “An hour ago. I may have missed my flight.”
“Mike!”
“My alarm didn’t go off!”
Will follows Mike into the room and there are two single beds against opposite sides of the room. Will sees where Mike had been sleeping and he drops onto the other nicely made bed. Mike gets comfortable in his own bed and they both lay, staring at each other, the overcast sky from the window their only light.
“Why were you late?” Mike asks, almost a whisper.
“My flight was canceled.”
“I wished mine had been canceled. Cost me three hundred bucks for the next available flight.”
“Oh.” Will digs into his pocket and pulls out the twenty he had put aside for Mike. “Here.”
Their room is small enough that Mike can reach for the note, or rather, Will’s hand, but he nudges it away. And in this brief simple touch, a warm gooey feeling settles over Will. “I’m not taking your money.”
“We had a deal. And you didn’t go to Hawkins, so…”
“Keep your money. Just buy me something nice.” Mike shuts his eyes and his outstretched arm now hangs off his bed. He’s asleep before Will can even re-pocket the twenty.
It’s late, too late, when Will wakes up. Their door is still opened and there’s light from the front room that makes it not totally dark. So Will can see Mike in shadow across from him.
“Hi,” Mike says, his way of announcing he’s not asleep.
“Hi.” Will smiles, stretching the grogginess from not sleeping the night before out of his limbs and then he melts back into his sheets. He could fall back asleep but maybe getting completely off a normal sleep schedule is bad to do on vacation.
“I feel jet lagged,” Mike says.
“We are only three hours off schedule.”
“Still.”
“They have to be here by now, right?” Will says, running a hand through his hair because he knows it’s a mess. And even if Mike only sees Will in a platonic way, he wants that way to still be mildly attractive.
The house is empty, except for the two of them and Will starts to worry.
Jane and Dustin are flying in from Oregon while Lucas and Max are coming from Indiana.
“Wasn’t Max and Lucas’ flight before yours?” Will asks.
“Yeah, but they had a layover in Denver. Maybe they missed their second flight.”
Will looks at the broken phone and still tries to press a few buttons just in case. And then he sees the red dot flashing on the answering machine.
“The phone may be broken but looks like the answering machine still works.” Will presses play on their only message.
“Hey Mike,” Lucas says, “you’re probably wondering where we are by now. And. Well. We aren’t coming. None of us. It’s just going to be you and Will. And after our last conversation, I think you know why. Make it happen. We will see you guys at Thanksgiving. Hopefully sooner.”
The line clicks and Will blinks, his confused smile faltering. “What? They’re not coming? Is this a joke?” He looks to Mike, who looks not confused but scared. He’s frozen, staring at the machine. “Mike?”
“Yeah?” Mike jerks to look at Will. Or look at Will’s forehead. He can’t seem to look Will in his eyes.
“Are they seriously not coming? Is this a prank? Did you do something to Lucas and he’s getting back at you?”
“Um. I’m not sure.” Mike looks back at the machine.
Will goes to press play again, but Mike catches his hand mid-air. “They aren’t coming. It’s fine. I’m hungry, though. And we can’t call for a pizza…”
“There’s a phone book…”
“We can’t call anyone.”
“I know,” Will says with a small eye roll and because Mike is still holding his hand, he steps out of his touch to around the counter. “It has addresses and a map. We can walk to the closest store.”
“Oh. Right.” Mike looks deep in thought as he stares at his hand that had just been holding Will’s. He’s thinking rather hard about their food dilemma so Will finds the store’s address quickly.
”It’s probably going to be a long walk.” Will’s used to walking to the grocery store in the City, but Mike isn’t. “So we shouldn’t buy too much since we will have to carry it all.”
“We don’t have to walk,” Mike says after Will writes down the address and some directions based on the map. “I rented a car.”
“You did?”
“You didn’t?”
“Not in my budget,” Will says. Not since he got his dream job at a gallery only to discover it does not pay well if you are shit at selling art. Will could talk circles around people on art he loves but most of the pieces he’s required to sell doesn’t speak to his soul.
Mike makes a few wrong turns thanks to it being dark and Will possibly not writing down correct directions, but they do find a supermarket and it’s rather fun going down the aisles with Mike close to 10pm when it feels like 1am. Mike insists they don’t need anything more than frozen pizza and several bags of chips. But Will argues that they’ll need cereal and paper bowls and plates. And also utensils and napkins. And a new phone. And a few VHS tapes… And by the time they are walking out an hour later, their cart is full of paper bags of things that maybe Will did go overboard on when he saw their total.
Mike refuses to let Will give him his half of the bill and he ends up sticking the twenty dollar bill in Mike’s denim front pocket while he’s loading the trunk of their things. Or tries to.
“I don’t need your money, it’s on me,” Mike says, trapping Will’s hand in his pocket with his own.
“Mike. You were just telling me how you almost went to Hawkins just to save a quarter at the laundry mat.”
“I like how my mom washes my clothes.”
“You’re a fucking adult, ask her for tips.” Will tugs his hand out, leaving the twenty.
Mike rolls his eyes. “Regardless, I don’t want your twenty.” He holds it out for Will to take, but he doesn’t. Will gets into the passenger side and breathes in the faint smell of cigarettes barely covered with the car’s air freshener.
“What was Lucas talking about, your last phone call?” Will asks as Mike pulls back onto the road to their beach house. Will’s eyes often go to Mike’s hands, so he catches his slight squeeze of the steering wheel before Mike relaxes as he makes a turn.
“Nothing. It’s just him being dumb. Getting back at me, like you said.”
“For what?”
Another squeeze of the steering wheel. “Um. I can’t remember.”
“And he said ‘make it happen.’ Make what happen?”
Mike side eyes Will and then he’s back to driving with his whole focus.
“Mike?”
“Can we not talk about this? I’m trying to remember how to get back.”
“I don’t know what we’re talking about. It’s why I’m asking. And you need to make a right at the light. Then straight for awhile.”
Mike throws his head back with a sigh. “Lucas thinks he’s helping me but he just… He… Jesus, this is hard. Will. I have to tell you something.”
Will shifts so he’s facing Mike in his seat. He has this dread sinking in his stomach, but he keeps his face neutral though it’s hard to see at night in their dark rental car. But they are passing street lights and in the chance that Mike looks over at Will as they pass one, he doesn’t want to look nervous.
“I’ve tried a few times to tell you this, but I haven’t, um, had the chance recently and it’s only gotten worse.”
“We talk almost every night.”
Mike clears his throat but it still sounds strained when he says, “I haven’t had the…courage?”
And Will sees the paleness in Mike suddenly as they pass a streetlight. He sees the hunched shoulders and just how terrified Mike looks.
“Oh my god.”
“I know,” Mike groans.
“Are you sick?”
“What?”
“You’re not…sick.”
“No! I’m…moving to New York?”
“You are? Mike! When?”
“I mean, fuck… I want…to move to New York.”
“Okay… Yeah! That would be fucking amazing.” The dread dissipates into possibilities as Will pictures Mike being a short walk or taxi drive away. “You got a new job or something?”
“I was thinking of maybe getting a job there.”
“Okay…so why are you moving to New York?”
“I don’t know. It would save money. I basically go there every other month anyways. And I hate leaving… I hate Indiana lately.”
“Ah, you miss me that much?” Will grabs Mike’s upper arm, making the contact brief even though his fingers were desperate to linger.
Mike lets out a shaky breath. “Exactly.”
Mike makes a phone call to Lucas while Will takes a shower and it feels a lot better knowing they have a phone in case something were to happen. It’s nearly 2am when Will is in his pajamas on the very small couch, his legs on top of Mike’s thighs while he fights sleep despite his middle of the day nap.
Then he shuts his eyes, losing the battle. He has that falling sensation that jerks him awake not long later. Mike isn’t watching the movie nor is he asleep. His head is resting back on the couch, looking at Will.
Will rubs his face as he shifts to sit up, but Mike has Will’s ankle gently trapped in his hand.
“I’m going to head to bed.” Will’s not sure why he’s whispering.
“Good idea,” Mike says just as softly. He lets go of Will’s ankle and Will stands. He forgot to brush his still damp hair after his shower and he’s sure it looks wild but he’s too tired to care.
“You coming?”
“I want to see how it ends,” Mike says, still not looking at the movie.
“Cool. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight, Will.”
Will internally curses the stomach flutter Mike’s soft voice saying his name just triggered.
Will’s body seems to think he was having another nap because he’s awake before 6am. He eats a bowl of cereal and watches some TV. By 8am, Mike is still sleeping, so he puts on his jacket and goes to check out the beach. He sees people looking for seashells and sea glass. With his hands in his pockets, he peacefully takes in the view as he walks on the sidewalk lined with beautiful flowers. And he starts to think about why their friends would abandon them on this wonderful vacation just for Mike to tell Will he might be moving to New York.
And the longer Will thinks, the less it makes sense.
He circles back to the beach house, hoping Mike is awake by now and he can get some answers.
“Mike?” Will calls, taking off his shoes by the door. He hadn’t walked on the beach but he still finds sand all over his shoes.
Mike stalls, having just stepped out of the bathroom in only a towel.
“Will!” Mike shouts, like he isn’t sharing a beach house with him.
Will turns, saving himself from the beautiful sight of Mike in a towel that hits him mid-thigh.
“Sorry, not looking.” Will covers his eyes even though he’s facing away.
“Uh, thanks. Where were you?”
“I went for a walk.” Will is failing at sounding unaffected.
“Oh. I was hoping we could explore the beach together.”
“I didn’t go on the beach. Just along it…”
“Cool.”
“Cool,” Will echoes, squeezing his eyes shut behind his hands. Finally, he hears the sound of their bedroom door shut. And it only just occurs to Will that since it’s just them, they can have their own rooms. But he doesn’t want his own room so he won’t bring it up to Mike.
Mike is in shorts and a tank when he steps out. “Ready to go to the beach?”
“It’s sort of cold out there,” Will says. “And it looks like it might rain.”
Mike blinks. “I don’t have a jacket.”
Will sighs. “I packed a hoodie as well.” He moves to his duffle bag, digs out his hoodie, and hands it to Mike. “I told you it’s Northern California. It’s not like Lenora.”
“I know, I was half asleep packing my bag. I forgot my jacket.” Mike puts the hoodie over his freshly showered body and Will continues to feign his annoyance. Like he hasn’t secretly been hoping Mike would need to wear his hoodie at some point and make it smell like him by the time Will is back in New York.
And now that he’s thinking about New York, Will wants to ask more about Mike’s plans but the question gets lost because Will’s hoodie looks good on Mike.
“It’s not that cold, it’s like sixty degrees,” Mike comments as they step outside.
“With wind.”
“Even so.”
“Fine, I’ll take back my hoodie.”
“No.” Mike clutches the NYU logo like Will had plans to rip the hoodie off his body. “Wow.” Mike stares out at the ocean, at the rocky beach and the people all enjoying their Sunday. “Can you imagine being rich enough to live here?”
“If I was rich enough to buy a house here, I sure wouldn’t buy that one.” Will points his thumb at the blue and yellow house they are staying it.
“What? It’s cute!”
“It’s small.”
“It’s cozy.” Mike shoves his hands in the front pocket of Will’s hoodie and then comes out with a small piece of wrinkled paper. “What’s this?”
“A washed ticket stub for a play I saw.”
“When did you see a play?”
“I went to see a show in May with Garrett.”
“Garrett? The guy who bought a painting off of you?”
“The very one. You can really thank him for the twenty bucks.”
“No thanks.” Mike hands over the ticket and the fucking twenty. “In case you want to keep the ticket for sentimental reasons.”
“Why would I want to keep washed garbage?” Will sticks the twenty in Mike’s hoodie pocket when he’s staring out at the ocean again.
“I don’t know. People do that after a first date.”
“Not for a first and last date.”
“You didn’t like him?”
“No.”
“You don’t like anyone.”
“I do…”
“You like someone? Who?”
Will’s breath whooshes from his lungs. “I mean, you’re right. I don’t.”
“You don’t,” Mike echoes.
Will tosses the ticket in the trash as they pass and take the stairs down to the beach. The water is so blue and the sun has broken from the overcast clouds from the morning. It’s like Mike has brought out the sun.
They find all types of seashells and sand dollars and Mike has stuffed his hoodie’s pocket with sea glass. “Woah! This sea glass looks brown!”
“That’s from a beer bottle,” Will says.
“Whatever, it’s still glass I found from the sea.”
“Don’t cut yourself.”
“We should go to the aquarium,” Mike says.
“Today?”
“Whenever. We have all week. I really want to see the otters.”
Will smiles and for a moment, he forgets to mask his crush from his eyes. Mike stares back, sand all over his clothes, looking a little lost as he stares back at Will.
Will shakes out of whatever goofy expression that must have been on his face. “Oh hey, look at that…” Graciously, there happens to be a few fins bobbing out far into the ocean. “Dolphins or sharks?”
“Dolphins,” Mike says.
“How can you tell?”
“I’m just being optimistic.”
“Jane would have loved it if they were sharks,” Will says. “Too bad they all decided not to come… Because Lucas wanted you to tell me you were thinking about moving to New York.”
“Right. Yeah. Shame.” Mike starts to quicken his steps and Will lets out a frustrated groan.
“Mike.”
Mike crouches down, digging through the sand. “I hope I find another sand dollar!”
“Mike,” Will tries again. “There’s something you aren’t telling me. If you won’t, I’ll call Jane and ask why she gave up a vacation she had been excited to take for months… I’ll use all my sibling tactics to get her to tell me the truth.”
Mike’s hands are still in the sand. Slowly, he stands. “It’s going to change things. We can just forget about it and enjoy this vacation and you won’t have to feel all weird being alone with me…”
“I can’t forget. Just tell me. Or I’m going to go insane wondering.”
Mike chews on his lip. “Lucas thinks…or really, the Party thinks…” Mike makes a face of regret and then shakes his head. “No. Sorry. This secret is going with me to my grave. I’m actually going to go join those sharks… Please speak at my funeral.”
“Mike.”
“I love it when you say my name,” Mike confesses softly and his eyes don’t look like he’s joking. They look pained and hopeful.
“What did you say? I mean, what did you mean by that?” And when Mike doesn’t elaborate, he says his name again, but less softly. “Mike!”
“Jesus… Will. I’m…” Mike stretches forth his hand like that will help him finish his sentence. “Fuck. I’m in love…”
“Oh.” Will’s shoulders drop. “You want to move to New York because…you’re in love.”
Mike is nodding but then he is shaking his head. “Wait.”
“Who is she? Was it that woman at the bar I took you to? The one who gave you her number?”
“No—”
“I don’t know why you felt you needed to keep her from me.” And then Will’s eyes burn because he does know a reason why Mike might have kept it from him. That maybe Mike knows about Will’s internal battle of being in love with him. And maybe Mike told Lucas who told everyone that they needed to be states away while Mike drops this bomb of heartbreak over Will. But he is going to prove them wrong by taking this news well. But the wind is cold against Will’s face and his eyes water without his control and then tears are starting to fall. And his lips begin to tremble.
“Will.” Mike’s eyes drop to their sand covered feet and then he’s looking up with an unexpected intensity and resolve in his expression. “I’m in love with you.”
Will swipes under his eyes. And for a confusing moment, he thinks Mike just told him a woman’s name that rhymes with you. But he didn’t. Because Mike is looking at Will not like he’s in love with a woman. But like he’s in love with Will.
“Lucas told me everyone is tired of me silently yearning for you and not doing anything about it… Okay? So they Parent Trap-ed us.”
“That twin movie from the sixties?”
“Yeah.”
“But we aren’t divorced nor are our friends our children.” Will smiles but Mike doesn’t smile at his teasing.
“Will,” Mike whines. “Lucas was bugging the shit out of me about how this trip was basically a couples trip and I told him that we weren’t a couple and then he said whose fault was that… And I told him it was because you didn’t like me back and that basically was me confessing to him that I liked you. And he said we were being stupid and I assured him you didn’t like me like that and telling you would ruin everything between us… And then he pulled this shit because he said I needed to tell you how I felt and then maybe the beach and ocean and house would be romantic enough to make you want to be with me, too.”
Will’s heart is thumping with a hope he hadn’t allowed himself to feel since high school. It’s bringing feeling back to Will’s soul he hadn’t realized had been numb for so long.
“Olivia’s moving in with her boyfriend in September,” Will says, referring to his roommate.
Mike stares, his cheeks red and his hands in his pocket full of glass. He rolls back and forth on his heels, nervously.
“So you should probably just move in,” Will finishes.
“Yeah?” The word barely comes out but Will reads it on Mike’s lips.
“I never thought I would say this, but Lucas is right. We have been stupid.”
Mike’s brows twitch and then he takes a step forward but stops. So Will closes the distance.
“Because,” Will says, brushing some sand off of Mike’s face and then keeping his hand there. “We could have been doing this for years.”
And then Will kisses Mike and part of him expects Mike to push him away, to tell Will that he changes his mind and kissing him feels weird. But Mike doesn’t. He hums against Will’s lips and then his sandy hands are in Will’s hair and their lips move as seagulls sing and wind blows around them like a dance.
Will pulls slightly back because he realizes he has forgotten to say one very crucial thing.
“I love you, too, in case that wasn’t clear.”
Mike laughs softly against Will’s lips. He kisses him again before he’s stepping back, holding out his hand for Will to take. When Will takes it, Mike’s hand is still rough against his from the sand but he doesn’t let go. They walk along the beach, hand-in-hand. And when Will finds the fucking twenty in his short’s pocket, he tries to give it to Mike again, who runs. Will chases him until their feet are splashing in the cold water. Will grabs Mike around the waist, but in the end, Will keeps his twenty because Mike is a really good kisser and Will eventually relents.
When their stomachs are growling, they go back to the beach house to cook a frozen pizza.
And when they sit on the couch with changed clothes and having used the cold hose outside to wash away their sand, Will sits so close to Mike, their thighs touch, trying to warm up. Mike has his arm around Will the entire movie even though it means eating his slices with one hand.
At bedtime, they push their beds together and kiss in the dark until Will falls asleep in Mike’s arms. And by morning, he wakes to Mike having watched him sleeping again.
They spend their afternoon at the aquarium, eat the best fish and chips he’s ever had at a restaurant by a dock, and visit a few beaches and shops. They take pictures of each other and have other tourists take pictures of them.
And when they make it to their small beach house as the sun sets, they are kissing before the door fully shuts. And though it’s not late, they get in bed and continue what they had started the night before. And when Mike’s hands become daring, slipping under Will’s shirt and then into his shorts, Will meets his dare and does some exploring of his own.
And the next morning at the supermarket, they buy condoms and lube and take their first shower together. And Will can’t stop staring at Mike’s naked body but it’s okay because Mike is also staring at Will’s.
Their wet naked bodies fall together on the beds they made into one and an hour later, they need to take another shower. And by the end of their vacation, Mike changes his flight to go to New York instead of Indiana. And a month after that, Mike finds a job and their friends help move his things into Will’s apartment even though Olivia hadn’t fully moved out yet.
But they just couldn’t wait.
By August, the Party starts to plan their next couples’ vacation.