āI just wanted to say. These last couple of months, theyāve beenāā Mike shifts, leaning into the door jamb with one shoulder, and Will swallows. Fuck. Okay. āIāve had a lot of fun, you know?ā
āYeah.ā Mike is quick to agree, and when Will glances at him, he sees that Mike has his bottom lip between his teeth, and his eyes are a little wider than theyād seemed to be a minute ago. āMe too.ā
still no time or energy to read 330k+ before ch11 drops? same. but we rally! below the cut is the second half of our acswy tl;dr edition, covering approximately 120k of those 330k+ words. enjooooy~
CH08: SOMETIMES, I WONDERā¦
this chapter is very Slice of Life, which is a requirement for every fic/show. To Me.
as established in ch07, mike has a near-fatal injury to his hand from his time roughing it in the wilderness for the aptly named Wilderness Weekā¢ļø. as all responsible role models should, he heads to the camp nurse (our diva joyce) to get it looked at.
will happens to visit while mike is on his literal deathbed (getting bandaged up). joyce steps out for a moment which allows will to play nurse and patch mike up himself. they kiss, because ā as we all know ā things are Very Casual, and almost get caught by joyce. swag
mike has trouble playing guitar at the local campfire because of his aforementioned injury, which will clocks because he is definitely off screen somewhere staring at mike like this: šļøšļø
(Casually, though)
they wind up at the isolation cabin (as they so often do), but will has forgotten the key. useless, embarrassing behavior from a literal thief, but whatever. they sit on the porch, will asks mike about songs he likes to play, mike names delicate by taylor swift because we were taylor swift-pilled at the time this was written (we have since recovered).
mike ends up playing it for will, who helps him with the strumming since mike is basically scheduled for hand amputation (handputation?) atp šobviously this is all still very chill and casual and so on and so forth. the word casual has stopped looking like a word but that sounds like a Them problem
will catches a brief illness since he is around snot-nosed kids all day every day. mike says Your Mom Said Itās My Turn To Play Nurse and takes care of him. yk, cause heās kind, and generous, and will helped him play guitar, so, like. itās the Least he can do. (#MikeWheelerRepent2kAlways)
will does manage to recover (hallelujah! a miracle!) and the fourth of july festivities they had planned have been rained out :( to make up for it, hopper orders one zillion pizzas and they have a movie marathon in the big house.
mike and will end up sharing a bean bag (upgraded/downgraded from Only One Sleeping Bag) and will falls asleep (sue him for being COMFY. one might even say COZY). mike has completely casual (BOOOO) thoughts while hercules plays and does not relate to meg at ALL, but would probably be fine with being crushed by a column and dying before he has to think about it too hard!
CH09: ARE WE GOING SOMEWHERE? (PART I)
mike wakes will up at the ass crack of dawn (read: before 8am) by imitating a woodpecker (note: the bird metaphor goes hard here) so that they can go on a Not-Date on their free day (note: itās totally a date)
after much complaining and also whining, they make their way to The Mustangā¢ļø, which invokes more Complaining and also Whining. will also feels diseased because he keeps wanting to touch mike and hold his hand, which he canāt do since mike drives a manual and needs his hand to drive. kicks rocks but only because mike is STUPID. no other reason.
mike tries to kiss will in The Mustangā¢ļø. will tells him to go climb a tree and that he refuses to kiss mike in this godforsaken hunk of obnoxious metal that he calls a car.
will falls asleep on the way to their destination: a coffeeshop in a town ~30 min away from camp. mike buys willās coffee and muffin, kisses him in public, sticks his hand in willās back pocket (butt!), and pointedly shows will a tiktok about a cool art supply and not-so-subtly asks will if he has them and if he would use them. will, distracted by the all-inclusive breakfast and public kissing and gentle butt holding, does not pick up on that, but does pick out all the blueberries from his blueberry muffin.
mike has an oshawott patch on his fanny pack. itās important to me that you all know this.
after finishing up, they head to a thrift store across the street. gravity begins to oppress mike, so he has to lean on will for support. will picks up a 3XL oscar the grouch t-shirt. they make out in the dressing room and take stupid pictures in the mirror. a successful thrift haul!
after some more shopping around, they start driving to their next destination, which is a Secret. on the ride, they get to talking about The Mustangā¢ļøā will finally admits that mike actually isnāt obnoxious enough to warrant owning a bright blue, racing-striped muscle car. willās character development noted, mike explains Why he ended up with this particular vehicleā¦ā¦ā¦..
[insert vaguely tragic backstory about wanting a car to call his own that his parents had no ownership over due to a situation that happened to nancy and her car. his criteria was to find something used that had manual transmission so that not a lot of people could drive it. mike fronted the money he saved over several summers while nancy co-signed so that it was just His]
will is both impressed and mystified by this lore drop, albeit a little guilty that he made mike delve into a subject that should probably be reserved for a licensed therapist. mike doesnāt care ā he is too busy making will document in mikeās own phone that will said something nice about The Mustangā¢ļø. it is revealed that mikeās phone password spells KERMIT and that he has a poop emoji next to willās name in his contacts, and that their text conversation is pinned to the top of his messages. will is studiously ignoring all of these things for the sake of remaining Cool and Aloof.
they arrive at their destination: A Mall! they park outside of a closed SEARS ā one of the Sās is missing. i will let you guess which one.
will questions why they are in an empty parking lot in front of a very closed storefront. mike happily reveals that he is going to teach will to drive his car! š„°
CH09: ARE WE GOING SOMEWHERE? (PART II)
will does not want to drive mikeās car.
after some very heartfelt soothing and convincing from mike, will reluctantly agrees to drive the thing that mike just spent 20 minutes telling will how important it was to him.
Gulp.
mike gives will his keys, since you need those to perform Driving. will notices mike has a keychain of walter (the camp whiteman mascot!) on his keyring and gets emo about that. the narration reveals that will has a matching one, and that they bought them towards the end of their first summer at camp whiteman to commemorate their experience and Friendship. nods.
(thea flashes a giant sign to the audience that says [AWWWW])
will does the damn thing. thea does a lot of explaining of how to drive a manual car for someone who has never driven one. AND LET ME JUST SAY: i have gotten comments saying i was spot on, comments saying i was close enough, and comments saying i was SOOOO COMPLETELY WRONG. and to ALL of you, i say: i donāt fucking care. every video i watched showed it a little differently. all of you are giving me different feedback. whatās IMPORTANT is that i gave it an honest go and that NO ONE learns how to drive stick shift from a byler fanfiction. š
after many times stalling, will is successful in Performing Driving! mike uses the word ābaby,ā though both will and the reader arenāt sure if he is referencing will or the car.
(as the author, i am here to reveal that the answer is Yes. as in, Both.)
will decides heās had enough after bravely approaching 20 mph behind the wheel. thereās celebratory hugging, forehead kissing (!!!), and a healthy amount of making out ā outside the car, of course. will has standards.
they go inside and do some more shopping. they pick out sketchbooks and notebooks for each other amongst other items from other stores. they wind up in a cunty little diner and have lunch, and draw each other in one of willās new sketchbooks.
their waitress comments on how they are So cute and Funny after seeing mike bully the fuck out of will who is just trying to enjoy a brownie sundae (#SweetToothWillAgenda). miss plot device asks how long theyāve been together ā will goes to correct her, but mike beats him to the punch and uses the words Middle School Sweethearts
will passes away.
will unpasses away so that he can pick up the check. since, you know, they are Middle School Sweethearts.
they find a photo booth where mike Insists they take pictures to prove to their friends that they can hang out without killing each other, since we are obviously still concerned with what the rest of their friends think. he then proceeds to tarnish all of their evidence by kissing will in half the pictures before practically dry humping him in the booth.
will has Some decorum and puts an end to the kissing, but the pictures are really cute, and in his blind selection, will accidentally chose a heart border to frame the pictures. ugh. kicks rocks. embarrassing!
itās time to head back to camp whiteman! itās seventy-one degrees outside, so will is at risk of hypothermia. mike graciously gives will his sweatshirt to avoid frostbite.
on the drive home, while sitting in the passenger seat of the car he doesnāt hate anymore while wearing mikeās sweatshirt and listening to mike be obnoxious and ruminating on their day, will comes to the conclusion that most of us came to two chapters ago: He Has A Crush On Mike.
in a bout of panic, will breaks his No-Kiss-Ban and tries his darndest to crawl into mikeās skin while theyāre at a red light. mike, delighted, finds a place to pull over so that they can make out in the backseat.
will is incredibly overwhelmed by how Much he likes mike and wants to date him for forever and ever and ever and ever. mike calls out the fact that heās shaking and asks if everything is okay, to which will eventually replies that mike just makes him Nervous.
a second ābabyā hits the towers. it is definitely directed At Will.
everyoneās lives would probably be easier if will just confessed in this moment, but he decides to make out with mike a lot instead. i support him! mike does, too!
CH10: YOU AND I WERE FIREWORKS (PART I)
mike is a sleepy idiot boy. really on his honk shoo honk mimimi shit. so much so that he sleeps through all of his alarms and almost misses Fun Friend Time down at The Lakeā¢ļøš
he rushes to put on godās smallest shark-adorned swim trunks (the only pair thatās clean ā mikeās laundry habits, or lackthereof, are also a surprise tool that will help us later) and hauls ass down to The Lakeā¢ļøsince Will Is There.
after dealing with max and will ogling lucas and then engaging in the flirty version of bickering and tussling even, mike and will end up in the water. mike thinks will looks very beautiful and awesome (and heās right) and Also comes to the realization that he likes will, though with a little less fanfare.
mike, ever the catastrophizer, enlists lucas, his certified de-catastrophizer, very early in the morning while lucas is on one of his hot boy runs.
even though lucas is both stinky and smelly, mike spits it out: he like-likes will.
lucas begins playing deja vu by olivia rodrigo. lyrically, it doesnāt fit the matter at hand, but the sentiment is there ā they have Had this convo before, during the elusive and mysterious Discord Era.
mike says fuck you and your shit that was FAKE. and in the VAULT. this time itās REAL. and lucas says slow your roll buster.
lucas ends up just telling mike to Gauge the Situation and see if the vibes indicate will likes him back. mike is pretty sure he can do that, but no promises.
mike Tries to do that when will winds up in the counselorās cabin with him, el, and dustin on the Hottest Day Ever ā will asks to read his book, and tells mike that his annotations are endearing, and theyāre squished together like sardines on a couch that is decidedly not a sardine tin ā but then lucas and max arrive, and will darts off like a weirdo, leaving a pathetic mike behind.
mike almost kicks rocks because he hates his stupid piece of shit baka life, but then dustin offers to watch meet the robinsons with him, so, like. who needs will. right?
(mike needs will. wonāts him, even. Badly.)
CH10: YOU AND I WERE FIREWORKS (PART II)
ANNOUNCEMENT: MIKE IS DOING HIS LAUNDRY!!! the entire blue cabin ā ESPECIALLY MITCHELL ā rejoices!
while battling his own garments in a sorry attempt to Fold, will appears!
YAY! YIPEE! WOOHOO!
he wants to Hang Out. GULP.
mike is very committed to his laundry for entirely personal reasons and not at all because mitchell will kill him, so he tells will to sit tight while he finishes folding his laundry and to NOT judge him.
will, whose mating ritual is 95% comprised of bullying mike, cannot adhere to these rules. he makes fun of mike for a cereal killer shirt (that suni owns irl! i have seen it!) and then promptly steals it. mike calls him a thief, but doesnāt take it back on account of the fact Heās Whipped.
after mike finishes, they end up in the isolation cabin (shocker). mike expects to be jumped (in a sexy way), but will wants to draw and color. mike suddenly understands why will wanted him to bring his Nintendo Switch from the Nintendo Switch Family of Systemsā¢ļøā when will said hanging out, he meant hanging out, not āhanging outā (šØāā¤ļøāšāšØ).
mike, ever agreeable, is fine with this. they cram into the same bed and mike does a very good job of getting link killed in tears of the kingdom, as if poor linkās life wasnāt brutal enough š
will cares about linkās well-being, so he entices mike away from tears of the kingdom with promises of watching jurassic park ii. mike is very dissapointed that itās the second one, but will explains itās because heās never seen it, and since he watched the first jurassic park for the first time with mike during the aforementioned elusive Discord Era, he figures he should watch the second one with him too!
mikeās Signal Gauger is going whack. itās fine.
after spending the first three minutes of the film acting like they arenāt going to cuddle, they drop the pretense and cuddle. this is awesome for mike, because will is playing with his hair, and it feels nice, andā
he falls asleep. honk shoo, honk mimimi, so on and so forth.
he wakes up once the movie is over (spoiler alert: he didnāt miss much) to find that will has been braiding tiny little braids into his hair while he was conked out. mike pretends that this bothers him, but it doesnāt at all, and will continues to play with his hair, so actually heās having an epic and awesome time.
they flirt more by pretending they donāt like each other and will flips his Menace Mode on. after a lot of teasing, they make out for 30 seconds ā but in what can only be described as a Boyfriendy Way. the word Casual has been scrubbed from mikeās pocket dictionary.
mike does a lot of thinking about how he is SOOO so happy and then he and will skip off into the sunset (read: the mess for dinner)
an undetermined amount of days later, the weather has cleared, the activity schedule is light, and the fourth of july bonfire is back on!
this is all fun and games (literally). although mike and will want to do their activities together, they are each whisked away by one half of lumax ā but they shake it up so that max bullies mike and lucas bullies will. yay variety!
mike and will finally find their way back to each other later in the night! will snags two sparklers and leads mike off into the woods near the lake so that they can have some Alone Time.
will keeps looking like he has something to say but wonāt say it despite mike telepathically screaming at him to SAY IT. will does what will does best: makes out with mike so that he can avoid talking about his feelings.
mike is usually a happier camper when this is happening, but this time heās MAD š” because will has something to SAY š£ļøand he wonāt SAY IT š¤¬AND ITāS HIS TURN TO SAY SOMETHING š¤Ø
he pulls away and tells will as much. will cannot fathom why mike would be mad at him Or stop kissing him. mike cannot articulate why heās actually mad on account of his Principles, so instead he tells will that heās gorgeous and it pisses him off.
everyone, including the word Casual, stares at the camera like this: š
will says that he is ridiculous. mike waxes thought poems about willās eyelashes and echoes his sentiment about will being gorgeous. will tells him to shut the fuck UPPPPP FR
the chapter ends with mike considering the logistics of doing long distance during the school year while will is once again trying to climb inside his skin. it ends on a hopeful note of mike just waiting for will to confess :) since itās his turn :) YAY
mike and his habit of saying things in double leads to him saying his love confession to will twice. one is a much louder, ābecause iām in love with you, okay?ā and the second is softer, teary, happier. a relieved, āiām in love with you, will.ā
mike and will's tension finally exploding and them sleeping together for the first time in college just for mike to forget he's wearing his superman boxers that night
titsay
prguitarman
jacobvanloon
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